The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History, 1954-68 [Paperback]

Steven Kasher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996

This volume tells the story of the American civil rights movement through the rousing and often wrenching photographs that recorded, promoted and protected it. After an introduction explaining the vital importance of photography to the movement, the book proceeds from the Montgomery bus boycott through the student, local and national movements; the big marches in Washington and Selma; Freedom Summer; Malcolm X and Black Power; and the death of Martin Luther King. Each chapter begins with a fast-paced narrative of a crucial event in the movement, complemented by a portfolio of effective and evocative photographs of the subject. Ranging from the well-known to the rare, these images were shot by photographers including Richard Avedon, Danny Lyon, Charles Moore, Gordon Parks, Dan Weiner, and over 50 others. Many of the pictures are accompanied by remembrances and analysis by various photographers and participants. The book also features a concise chronology of the major civil rights events of the period and suggestions for additional reading.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The civil rights movement has produced enduring images, and the famous ones are collected here: separate (and unequal) white and black water fountains, police dogs on the streets of Birmingham, Martin Luther King proclaiming "I Have a Dream," Memphis strikers with their "I Am a Man" placards. As New York City photographer Kasher observes, "No other American pictures radiate so brightly a collective passion for justice." This book, which collects some 150 black-and-white photos, is indeed a history, offering many lesser-known images that also resonate. See legendary organizer Septima Clark lead older women in a citizenship class; a bespectacled Elizabeth Eckford, one of the "Little Rock Nine," walk stoically ahead of jeering white students; Julian Bond pose with fellow SNCC volunteers, seemingly too young to help change history; and a Mississippi-delta organizing house that has painted the word Freedom on a cross burned by the Klan. Kasher's chapter introductions are lucid overviews of the movement, while the captions?some of which reproduce the original, stilted wire-service captions?are also effective and informative. A moving tribute. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

The catalog for a traveling exhibition organized by New York City-based photographer, writer, and curator Kasher, this book contains images by more than 50 photographers, whose images were borrowed from photo agencies, galleries, and private collections. Ten accompanying essays break the Civil Rights movement into chronological periods. Kasher's research, writing, and photo selection are impeccable and engaging, resulting in perhaps the strongest book yet published on this topic. He pulls the reader into a narrative that recounts and analyzes events so outrageous that one who didn't live through the period might think them impossible. What remains are feelings of deep national shame and of admiration for the courageous protesters. The book ends with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King and the Poor People's March on Washington in 1968, far short of the end of racism in this country. Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of Medgar Evers and chair of the NAACP, provides an eloquent foreword. Highly recommended for general collections and collections on photojournalism and photo-history, sociology and social history, political science, and African American history.?Kathleen Collins, New York Transit Museum Archives, Brooklyn
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789206560
• ISBN-13: 978-0789206565
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #538,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning compilation of photos with eloquent text, September 3, 2000

By 

Niel Rishoi (Livonia, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History, 1954-68 (Hardcover)

This book was singularly instrumental in putting me deep into the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. Being born in the early sixties, I was not old enough to have seen the daily television and newspaper images of what was happening to an oppressed segment of people. This book fills that void powerfully. Going through page by page, Steven Kasher's fine writing style captures the series of events, which are by turns riveting and disturbing. It constantly dawns on one that these horrifying things happened at a not-so-distant time, in the middle of the 20th century. One expects to read of these crimes against humanity in the dark ages - and it is a sad, disquieting reminder that times change slowly. Anyone who is interested in a major chunk of American history should invest in this book. Undoubtedly, as well it would serve as an excellent high school textbook, because it is amply illustrated and written with straightforward clarity, and therefore would make a much more lasting impression on young students than a pale discourse summed tidily up in a dull history book. I thank Kasher for researching, writing and providing this invaluable book; I am all the wiser, albeit the sadder, for having read it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'photographic history', March 16, 2006

By 

Promise R. Farnsworth "promsie" (Castle Rock, Colorado USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History, 1954-68 (Hardcover)

this book is amazing! i'm just beginning to learn about this part of american history, and i cannot say how much closer to my heart it has been to see the faces of the people who gave their lives for freedom.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richie's Picks: THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT: A PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY, November 29, 2008

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Richie Partington "Richie's Picks" (Sebastopol, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History, 1954-68 (Paperback)

I am a librarian who has utilized this photographic history for many years as a resource book with middle school students. The text is clear and concise; the photographs speak volumes.