List of photographers of the civil rights movement facts for kids

Warren K. Leffler's photo of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom at the National Mall

The Civil Rights Movement was a huge effort in the United States. It worked to end unfair treatment and gain equal rights for African Americans. Starting with a tragic event in 1955 involving Emmett Till, photography played a super important role. Photographers used their cameras to show the world the unfairness and the peaceful actions of the movement. This article will tell you about these brave photographers. It will also explain how they helped the movement from 1954 to 1968, especially in the Southern states.

Capturing History: Key Photographers

Many talented photographers dedicated their time and skills. They wanted to document the Civil Rights Movement. Their pictures helped share the story with everyone.

Photographers and Their Impact

• Bob Adelman (1931–2016) was a volunteer photographer. He worked for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in the early 1960s. He took pictures of important events and famous people.
• James H. Barker documented civil rights actions in Selma in the early 1960s.
• Dan Budnik (1933–2020) convinced Life magazine to let him photograph the Selma to Montgomery marches. His powerful photos are now kept at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.
• Bruce Davidson (born 1933) recorded events and their effects. He worked in both the North and South from 1961 to 1965. His work was even shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
• Diana Davies (born 1938) also contributed her photography.
• Benedict J. Fernandez (1936–2021) took many photos of the 1968 Sanitation Worker's Strike in Memphis.
• Bob Fitch (1939–2016) was a photographer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He captured school integration and voter registration efforts. He also took personal photos of the King family after Dr. King's funeral. His pictures appeared in magazines like JET and EBONY.
• Jack T. Franklin (1922–2009) also documented the era.
• Leonard Freed (1929–2006) photographed the March on Washington and other important civil rights events.
• Jill Freedman (1939–2019) extensively documented the 1968 Poor People's Campaign in Washington, D.C.
• Gene Herrick (born 1926) was an Associated Press photojournalist. He covered the Emmett Till trial and the Montgomery bus boycott. He famously photographed Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. being fingerprinted.
• Matt Herron (1931–2020) documented the Freedom Summer of 1964. He even put together a team of photographers. They aimed to record the changing racial landscape in Mississippi.
• R.C. Hickman (c. 1922–2007) photographed the daily lives of African Americans in Dallas, Texas. He also captured visits from leaders like Martin Luther King Jr.
• Bill Hudson (1932–2010) was an Associated Press photojournalist. He showed police brutality against peaceful protesters. His famous photo shows police dogs attacking students in Birmingham.
• David Johnson (1926–2024) was the first African American student of Ansel Adams. He photographed the 1963 March on Washington.
• James H. Karales (1930–2002) worked for Look magazine. He covered the entire Civil Rights Movement. He took the iconic photo of the Selma to Montgomery march. It shows people proudly marching under a cloudy sky.
• Warren K. Leffler was a photographer for U.S. News & World Report. He traveled to the South to cover major events.
• Danny Lyon (born 1942) published his first photos while working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. His pictures appeared in books about the movement.
• James "Spider" Martin (1939–2003) took photos of the "Bloody Sunday" march in 1965. This was the first Selma to Montgomery march. Martin Luther King Jr. said his photos helped pass the Voting Rights Act.
• Jack Moebes (1911–2002) was the only photographer to capture the Greensboro Four. This was after they sat at a lunch counter in 1960. His photo helped start sit-ins across the South.
• Charles Moore (1931–2010) photographed a 1958 argument involving Martin Luther King Jr.. His most famous photo, Birmingham, shows protesters being attacked by fire hoses. These pictures helped push for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
• Gordon Parks (1912–2006) was assigned by Life to travel with Malcolm X. He also documented the "Doll Test" in 1947. This test helped show the harm of segregation. It was used in the Brown v. Board of Education trial.
• Jim Peppler photographed for The Southern Courier in Montgomery, Alabama. He captured leaders like Fred Shuttlesworth and Hosea Williams.
• Herbert Eugene Randall Jr. (born 1936) photographed the effects of the movement in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in 1964. He focused on the African-American community and volunteers. His book Faces of Freedom Summer is a unique record of one town's experience.
• Flip Schulke (1930–2008) was a freelance photographer. He traveled with Martin Luther King, Jr. and took thousands of photos of him.
• Robert A. Sengstacke (1943–2017) was an award-winning photojournalist. He took portraits of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
• Art Shay (1922–2018) photographed the Chicago Freedom Movement. He covered integration issues for many magazines.
• Moneta Sleet Jr. (1926–1996) won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. He won for his photo of Coretta Scott King at Dr. King's funeral. He was the first African American man to win this award for journalism.
• Maria Varela (born 1940) worked for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. She helped civil rights organizers with educational materials and photos. Her photos have been shown in many exhibits.
• Grey Villet (1927–2000) was attacked while covering protests in Little Rock, Arkansas. He also took notable photos of Mildred and Richard Loving. Their interracial marriage was made legal by the Supreme Court in 1967.
• Cecil J. Williams (born 1937) began photographing the movement's start in South Carolina. He started at just eleven years old. He has a huge collection of nearly one million images. He was even arrested twice for photographing student protests.
• Ernest Withers (1922–2007) photographed African American history for over 60 years. He covered the Montgomery bus boycott and the Emmett Till trial.

See also

• Civil rights movement in popular culture