Images of the Civil Rights Movement

A couple of summers ago, I traveled to Atlanta's High Museum of Art to see the exhibit
Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956–1968. I was spellbound
by this collection of images from this period in history and I learned more than I ever knew.

I have been including photographs of LIFE Magazine's Charles Moore in my visual literacy
workshops. A passage about him and his photos, in the Pulitzer Prize-winning book,
The Race Beat,  led me to learn more. These stories and photos are powerful reminders
of the importance of photojournalism at this critical time in American history.

Now, I've learned another exhibit, “For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle
for Civil Rights,” is at the Center of International Photography in New York City and was
just reviewed in The New York Times. The companion web site is an online exhibition worth exploring.
There is also an accompanying book of the same name. (Don't miss the K-12 educator's resource link) 

To see other books about civil rights photography go to this page on my visual literacy web site.

See also my web page from a recent presentation at the SC Social Studies Educator's conference.

Frank Baker
media educator
fbaker1346@aol.com

Related resources:
Photos from the civil rights movement in Columbia SC

Rare civil rights images from the LIFE magazine archives

The Power of Imagery in Advancing Civil Rights

What the still photo still does best (New York Times)

Civil rights and photography (lesson plans)

The Civil Right Movement From Behind The Lens

Gallery of photographer Flip Schulke

Greensboro Sit-in: The Start of the Civil Rights Movement

February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four

Teaching students about civil rights using print material and photographs (The Social Studies July-August 2007)

The Decisive Moment: The Civil Rights Photographs of  Dr. Ernest Withers

Eyes On The Prize (PBS): Classroom Activities

CivilRightsTeaching.org  Activities and handouts

The Life Magazine Civil Rights Photography of Charles Moore 1958-1965 (Journalism History 25:4 Winter 1999-2000)