Charles Moore Civil Rights Photograph Portfolio

Collection

Identifier: M405

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains a complete set (number 16 of 25) of Charles Moore’s “Pictures That Made a Difference: The Civil Rights Movement.” The set includes 12 framed and matted photographs (Box 2, 3, 4, and 5) taken throughout the South between 1958-1965 and a framed and matted introductory description of the limited edition set (Box 1). Each photograph is numbered and signed by Mr. Moore.

Dates

Creation: 1958-1999

Creator

Moore, Charles, 1931-2010 (Photographer, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Noncirculating; available for research.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).

Biographical / Historical

Charles Moore was born in 1931 in Hackleburg, Alabama but grew up in nearby Tuscumbia, Alabama. After graduating from Deshler High School in Tuscumbia, he joined the US Marines. He served three years in the military, and then used his GI benefits to help fund his education at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California.

Mr. Moore returned to Alabama and began his career in fashion photography in a portrait studio. In 1957 he left fashion photography and went to Montgomery to work as a photographer at "The Montgomery Advertiser" newspaper. After several assignments involving the Civil Rights Movement, Moore took a series of photographs of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. being arrested after trying to visit a friend in the courthouse. Mr. Moore was the only photographer at the scene, and his photos were noticed nationwide. It was those photographs that caught the attention of Life magazine editors, who later employed Mr. Moore and frequently published his photographs. In 1962, Moore quit his job at the newspaper and became a freelance photojournalist.

Moore is well known for his civil rights photographs, which include the enrollment of James Meredith at the University of Mississippi in 1962; Ku Klux Klan rallies in North Carolina in 1965; and the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965. He also photographed the civil war in Dominican Republic; the Vietnam War; and political disturbances in Haiti and Venezuela.

Charles Moore won the first annual Kodak Crystal Eagle Award for Impact in Photojournalism in 1989. Supported by Kodak, Mr. Moore has traveled extensively to universities around the country to present lectures and workshops on photography. Mr. Moore's photographs have been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums, and his books include "The Mother Lode: A Celebration of California's Gold Country" (1999) and "Powerful Days, The Civil Rights Photography of Charles Moore" (1991).

Extent

2.50 Cubic Feet : MC2/D11

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

Accompanying this set is Charles Moore’s book "Powerful Days: The Civil Rights Photography of Charles Moore" (1991), which includes background information about each photograph included in the set, as well as many other of Mr. Moore’s photographs (Box 1). Also contained in Box 1 is a Master’s thesis, "A Study of the Philosophy of Photography" by Eddy Lee Wheeler for East Texas State University (1975), five photographs of Charles Moore, and a poster announcing a lecture by Charles Moore on the USM Hattiesburg campus in 1990 (oversize materials in mapcase).

Provenance

The photograph portfolio and photography books were donated by Professor Ed Wheeler of the University of Southern Mississippi Journalism Department in 1998. Dr. Toby Graham donated four photographs of Moore at McCain Library and Archives in 1999.

Photograph Log

M405-1 “Pictures That Make a Difference: The Civil Rights Movement” This is not a photograph, but a framed and matted introductory description of Charles Moore’s limited edition twelve photograph set. This set is number 16 out of 25 printed and Charles Moore/Black Star copyrights all images. (Box 1)

M405-2 Hands holding the book All Men Are Brothers 8 X 12 B&W Undated Framed and matted photograph of hands holding a copy of All Men Are Brothers by Mahatma Ghandi. Featured on page 37 of Powerful Days. (Box 2)

M405-3 Dr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr. 8 X 12 B&W 1958 Montgomery, Alabama: Framed and matted photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta King, embracing after an early movement victory. Featured on page 43 of Powerful Days. (Box 2)

M405-4 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. arrested in Montgomery, Alabama 8 X 12 B&W 1958 Montgomery, Alabama: Framed and matted photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. being arrested and jailed as his wife, Coretta, looks on. Police officers and other individuals unidentified. Featured on page 47 of Powerful Days. (Box 2)

M405-5 White man swings baseball bat at shopper 8 X 12 B&W 1960 Montgomery, Alabama: Framed and matted photograph of a white man swinging a baseball bat at a shopper, while another white man in the background strikes a black woman as bystanders watch. Featured on pages 48-49 of Powerful Days. (Box 3)

M405-6 Law officer takes practice swing with billy club 8 X 12 B&W 1962 Oxford, Mississippi: Framed and matted photograph a law officer taking a practice swing with a billy club while other officers look on with approval and laugh. Featured on page 55 of Powerful Days. (Box 3)

M405-7 Soldier leads group of prisoners in Oxford, Mississippi 8 X 12 B&W 1962 Oxford, Mississippi: Framed and matted photograph of a soldier leading a group of individuals who were arrested during a riot. Featured on pages 66-67 of Powerful Days. (Box 3)

M405-8 Demonstrators seek shelter from fire hose 8 X 12 B&W 1963 Birmingham, Alabama: Framed and matted photograph of three demonstrators huddled in doorway seeking shelter from a fire hose. Featured on page 99 of Powerful Days. (Box 4)

M405-9 Man attacked by police dog 8 X 12 B&W 1963 Birmingham, Alabama: Framed and matted photograph of a man being attacked by police dogs that have already ripped his pants. Featured on page 105 of Powerful Days. (Box 4)

M405-10 Ku Klux Klan members in North Carolina 8 X 12 B&W 1964-1965 North Carolina: Framed and matted photograph of James R. (Bob) Jones, Grand Wizard, attending a Ku Klux Klan rally. Other participants unidentified. Featured on page 147 of Powerful Days. (Box 4)

M405-11 African American woman helps injured white man 8 X 12 B&W 1965 Montgomery, Alabama: Framed and matted photograph of Harriet Richardson (of Juniata College in Pennsylvania) helping Galway Kinnell (poet-in-residence at Juniata) during a protest in support of the Selma Marchers. Featured on page 175 of Powerful Days. (Box 5)

M405-12 Long line of marchers on Selma to Montgomery March 8 X 12 B&W 1965 Framed and matted photograph of a long line of marchers that fills the road behind a truck carrying photographers on the March from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama. Featured on page 181 of Powerful Days. (Box 5)

M405-13 Demonstrators wave flags in front of Alabama State Capitol 8 X 12 B&W 1965 Montgomery, Alabama: Framed and matted photograph of demonstrators at the end of the March from Selma to Montgomery in front of the Alabama State Capitol. Those who marched the entire route wear vests. Featured on page 204-205 of Powerful Days. (Box 5)

M405-14 Charles Moore with Toby Graham 3 ½ X 4 ¼ Color 1999 Polaroid. Photographer Charles Moore holding copies of “The Student Printz” stands with Dr. Toby Graham, Mississippiana Curator, McCain Library and Archives, holding a copy of Moore’s book Powerful Days in Cleanth Brooks Reading Room, McCain. Taken on March 23, 1999 when Mr. Moore visited Hattiesburg, Mississippi by USM student Sandra K. Preuett. (Box 1, Folder 1)

M405-15 Charles Moore with Toby Graham 3 ½ X 4 ¼ Color 1999 Polaroid. Photographer Charles Moore holding copies of “The Student Printz” stands with Dr. Toby Graham, Mississippiana Curator, McCain Library and Archives in Cleanth Brooks Reading Room, McCain. Taken on March 23, 1999 when Mr. Moore visited Hattiesburg, Mississippi by USM student Sandra K. Preuett. (Box 1, Folder 1)

M405-16 Charles Moore with Toby Graham 5 X 7 B&W 1999 Photographer Charles Moore holding copies of “The Student Printz” looks at Dr. Toby Graham, Mississippiana Curator, McCain Library and Archives holding a copy of his book Powerful Days in Cleanth Brooks Reading Room, McCain. Taken on March 23, 1999 when Mr. Moore visited Hattiesburg, Mississippi by USM student Sandra K. Preuett. (Box 1, Folder 1)

M405-17 Charles Moore autographs his book Powerful Days 5 X 7 B&W 1999 Charles Moore autographs his book Powerful Days for the McCain Library and Archives, while visiting an exhibit of photographs from the book in Room 305, McCain Library and Archives. Taken on March 23, 1999 when Mr. Moore visited Hattiesburg, Mississippi by USM student Sandra K. Preuett. (Box 1, Folder 1)

M405-18 Charles Moore with Ed Wheeler 8 X 10 B&W Undated Dr. Ed Wheeler (left) stands with Charles Moore (right). (Box 1, Folder 2)