African American Civil Rights and Interfaith Solidarity at the Illinois Rally for Civil Rights, 1964

Martin Luther King Jr

Photograph

King, Martin Luther, Jr. press photograph, 1964, documents the Illinois Rally for Civil Rights at Chicago’s Soldier Field, one of the largest civil rights demonstrations before passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The photograph captures King holding hands with Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh of Notre Dame and Msgr. Robert J. Hagarty of the Archdiocese of Chicago, forming a visible interfaith chain of solidarity during a mass public demand for racial equality. The rally was held on June 21, 1964, drew an estimated 57,000 to 75,000 people, and brought together nearly 150 supporting organizations.

King, Martin Luther, Jr. Original silver gelatin press photograph. Chicago: June 21, 1964. 7.5 x 10.75 inches. Pasted caption and information form on verso identify the figures as “Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, Pres. Notre Dame / Martin Luther King Jr. / Msgr Robert J. Hagarty, Archdioceses of Chg. at the end of rally.” The image shows the three clergymen joined hand in hand, a gesture also associated with the rally’s singing of “We Shall Overcome.” Hesburgh had been appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights by President Eisenhower in 1957 and served until 1972, placing the photograph within both religious and federal civil rights networks.

Taken less than two weeks before President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act on July 2, 1964, the photograph preserves the rally’s fusion of African American freedom struggle, Catholic and Protestant leadership, and national legislative pressure. Creases to upper right edge affecting the image of Hagarty; dated on verso June 21, 1964, good to very good. A strong civil rights press image recording King’s Chicago organizing presence and the public religious coalition behind racial justice in 1964.

Item #16931

Price: $450.00