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This image was taken by a photojournalist working under the employ of the Associated Press, a US news agency founded in 1846 and still in operation today. These photographers endeavored to take in-focus, direct, and straightforward illustrations that would clearly communicate important events with the American public. Documentary photography of social protest movements (and particularly police violence) played a major role in shaping public opinion in these years. 

 


Published References
DimensionsOverall: 7 1/8 x 8 3/4 in. (18.1 x 22.2 cm)
Accession Number 2025.252
Classificationsphotograph
ProvenanceJeff Perry; Des Moines Art Center [gift from the previous, 2025]
Conference In Wake of Assassination: President Johnson today met in the White House Cabinet Room with civil rights leaders and government officials. The conference was called in wake of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. At left is Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Washington DC, April 5, 1968
Image Not Available for Conference In Wake of Assassination: President Johnson today met in the White House Cabinet Room with civil rights leaders and government officials. The conference was called in wake of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. At left is Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Washington DC, April 5, 1968
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Revenge Riots Sweep America: President Johnson called federal troops into the ntaion's capital yesterday to restore peace to this frightened city after a day of arson, looting and violence in the wake of the slaying of Negro civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King. Here, a trooper stands gaurd in the street as another (left) patrols a completely demolished building. Negroes in at least 20 cities demonstrated their anger in violence at the death of Dr. King, April 6, 1968
Unknown
1968
Image Not Available for Leads Poor Campaign: Civil rights leader Rev. Ralph Abernathy wipes his face during his appearance before a Senate Labor and Public Welfare subcommittee in Washington, April 20, 1968. Abernathy is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and successor to the assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Washington D.C., April 30, 1968
Leads Poor Campaign: Civil rights leader Rev. Ralph Abernathy wipes his face during his appearance before a Senate Labor and Public Welfare subcommittee in Washington, April 20, 1968. Abernathy is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and successor to the assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Washington D.C., April 30, 1968
Unknown Associated Press photographer
1968
Image Not Available for Thurgood Marshall, the first Negro nominated to the Supreme Court, faces Senate Judiciary Committee examination today on his attitudes toward the court's increasingly liberal rulings on criminal justice and civil rights. Marshall is shown here with his wife as he waits to take the witness stand, Washington DC, July 13, 1967
Thurgood Marshall, the first Negro nominated to the Supreme Court, faces Senate Judiciary Committee examination today on his attitudes toward the court's increasingly liberal rulings on criminal justice and civil rights. Marshall is shown here with his wife as he waits to take the witness stand, Washington DC, July 13, 1967
Unknown
1967
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The President, speaking at the White House, pledged the "nation can and shall and will overcome." He also ordered the American Flag to be flown at half staff in tribute to Dr. King, Washington D.C., April 5, 1968
Unknown Associated Press photographer
1968
Image Not Available for Among the attorneys who will argue against segregation in public school before the Supreme Court this week are, left to right: Harold R. Boulware, Columbia, South Carolina; Thurgood Marshall, New York City, official of National Association for Advancement of Colored People; and Spottswood W. Robinson III, representing Negro parents attacking school segregation in Virginia and South Carolina, December 1953
Among the attorneys who will argue against segregation in public school before the Supreme Court this week are, left to right: Harold R. Boulware, Columbia, South Carolina; Thurgood Marshall, New York City, official of National Association for Advancement of Colored People; and Spottswood W. Robinson III, representing Negro parents attacking school segregation in Virginia and South Carolina, December 1953
Unknown
1953
Image Not Available for The Nation's Capitol, 1978: Ten Years after it was reduced to rubble in a four-day frenzy of fire-bombing and looting, triggered by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Washington's 7th Street NW is an ash-can existence for winos. For black ghetto dwellers in Washington, the weed-filled lots and fire-scarred buildings silently mock the post-riot talk of rebuilding, April, 1978
The Nation's Capitol, 1978: Ten Years after it was reduced to rubble in a four-day frenzy of fire-bombing and looting, triggered by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Washington's 7th Street NW is an ash-can existence for winos. For black ghetto dwellers in Washington, the weed-filled lots and fire-scarred buildings silently mock the post-riot talk of rebuilding, April, 1978
Unknown
1978
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Of Mississippi Matters: Aaron Henry, Mississippi president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, appears today before a House Judiciary Subcommittee. Henry a close associate of slain negro leader Medgar W. Evers, was called to testify on racial problems in Mississippi. The subcommittee is holding hearings on proposed civil rights legislation, Washington DC, June 13, 1963
Unknown Associated Press photographer
1963
Image Not Available for Dr. Martin Luther King (right) of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference July 28th condemned Negro riots as a "self-defeating passion, "while castigating Congress for "loving rats more than Negroes," At the same time Roy Wilkins (left), executive Secretary of the NAACP said the traffic gluts in Los Angeles, scene of a racial uprising in 1965, show the city "cares more about care than people." Both appeared on a panel oh race riots at the concluding sessions of the International Platform Association, July 28, 1967
Dr. Martin Luther King (right) of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference July 28th condemned Negro riots as a "self-defeating passion, "while castigating Congress for "loving rats more than Negroes," At the same time Roy Wilkins (left), executive Secretary of the NAACP said the traffic gluts in Los Angeles, scene of a racial uprising in 1965, show the city "cares more about care than people." Both appeared on a panel oh race riots at the concluding sessions of the International Platform Association, July 28, 1967
Unknown
1967
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Key figures in the Southern bloc of about 75 House members who have pledged themselves to fight Civil Rights when it comes up on House floor on March 10th are shown as they conferred following a luncheon conference. Left to right: Representatives John Bell Williams (D-Mississippi), John L. Flynt (D-Georgia) and Dale Alford (D-Arkansas), Washington D.C., March 9, 1960
Unknown
1960
Image Not Available for Forcibly Evicted: Police lift one of the residents of Resurrection City to carry her from the area which was cleared after expiration of the permit to occupy the land in Washington, June 24, 1968. Police Chief John Layton said about 80 arrests, including the leaders of the Poor People's Campaign, were made during the clearing operation, Washington DC, June 25, 1968
Forcibly Evicted: Police lift one of the residents of Resurrection City to carry her from the area which was cleared after expiration of the permit to occupy the land in Washington, June 24, 1968. Police Chief John Layton said about 80 arrests, including the leaders of the Poor People's Campaign, were made during the clearing operation, Washington DC, June 25, 1968
Unknown Associated Press photographer
1968
Image Not Available for Mrs. Coretta Scott King narrates Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" during a Memorial Day concert, by the Washington National Symphony, dedicated to her late husband, Martin Luther King Jr. on May 31. The concert was originally scheduled to be held at the Lincoln Memorial May 30, where the Poor People's Campaign is encamped. Seated at left is Howard Mitchell, music director, Washington DC, June 1, 1968
Mrs. Coretta Scott King narrates Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" during a Memorial Day concert, by the Washington National Symphony, dedicated to her late husband, Martin Luther King Jr. on May 31. The concert was originally scheduled to be held at the Lincoln Memorial May 30, where the Poor People's Campaign is encamped. Seated at left is Howard Mitchell, music director, Washington DC, June 1, 1968
Unknown
1968
Image Not Available for Bishop Smallwood B. Williams (center), Washington representative of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, leads prayer for hundreds of Negro demonstrators who assembled across from the White House After the prayer meeting, the group marched to the Justice Department to protest racial discrimination in Washington, June 14, 1963
Bishop Smallwood B. Williams (center), Washington representative of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, leads prayer for hundreds of Negro demonstrators who assembled across from the White House After the prayer meeting, the group marched to the Justice Department to protest racial discrimination in Washington, June 14, 1963
Unknown
1963