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Civil Rights

Ernest Withers (American, 1922–2007), Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee, March 28, 1968, 1968, gelatin silver print, purchase with funds from the Director’s Circle, 2002.24.1.

The High holds one of the country’s most significant collections of photographs documenting the civil rights movement with over three hundred works. These images were made by committed artists, activists, and journalists who risked injury, arrest, and even death to document this critical moment of change in our nation. The collection includes documentation of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the activities of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, along with deep holdings by Gordon Parks, Ernest Withers, Danny Lyon, Bruce Davidson, Leonard Freed, and Charles Moore.