Original Photo of Looting During 1968 Memphis Civil Rights March

Memphis Civil Rights

Photograph

Original photo depicting a group of young Black men after having looted a store in downtown Memphis. 8.5" x 7" inches. One man is captured leaping out from the busted down store window, while the others walk down the street covered in debris with what appears to be new jackets. The caption on this photo reads: "Negroes who broke away from the civil rights march in Memphis are shown running iwth merchandise from a store. Difficulties developed as the marchers neared the downtown section." On verso, a cutout of the article of which this photo was the cover is pasted, and the partially visible title reads, "Mar a Protest March." The framing in the title, caption, as well as the mere fact that the looting was the focal point of the reporting on this march shows how media shapes the understanding of these events. At the time, Memphis was going through major social strife, with a white supremacist mayor that weaponized racial resentment amidst a major strike by the sanitation workers' union. This crisis would reach a fever pitch with the assassination of Martin Luther King shortly thereafter, on the 4th of April, 1968. Overall in very good condition.

Item #17649

Price: $225.00