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 previously included 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@gmail.com
Related resources:
Lesson Plan: Civil Rights Through Image & Text
The man who captured SC’s civil rights history
The role of the news media in the civil rights movement (video)
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)
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 (curriculum)
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)
