John Lewis and Jim Zwerg Beaten, Montgomery, Alabama
Photography

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John Lewis and Jim Zwerg Beaten, Montgomery, Alabama
Artwork Details
Artist/Maker
Unidentified Photographer
Date
1961
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Accession #
2007.74
Dimensions
Please contact the Museum for more information.
Location
Currently Not on View
Description
Made by an unknown press photographer, this photograph shows civil rights protesters John Lewis and John Zwerg in Montgomery, Alabama, after having been attacked for their participation in a Freedom Ride on May 20, 1961. Zwerg, at right, removes teeth knocked out by his attackers. The Freedom Rides were a series of nonviolent demonstrations in 1961. Volunteers called Freedom Riders rode in interstate buses to the segregated South to test the 1960 United States Supreme Court decision “Boynton v. Virginia,” which outlawed racial segregation in interstate transportation facilities, including bus stations and railroad terminals.