Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) "NOW" exhibit photographs and related materials, 1963-1967

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Summary

Creator:
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (U.S.), Clarke, Joffré, 1943-, Brown, Betty, 1934-2020, Fitch, Bob, Fletcher, Bob (Cinematographer), and Lyon, Danny
Abstract:
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) played a major role in the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s; its first major photography exhibit was titled "NOW" and opened in New York City in July 1965. Collection consists chiefly of 277 black-and-white photographs in sizes ranging from 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches to 16 x 20 inches, taken by SNCC photographers; a selection of these was used in the SNCC exhibit. Also included are paper records such as correspondence, fliers, brochures, and an exhibit layout diagram. Photographers whose work has been identified in the collection are: Joffré Clarke, Bob Fletcher, Danny Lyon, Fred DeVan, and Tamio Wakayama. The images were chiefly taken in Mississippi; other locations include Georgia, and possibly Alabama and Arkansas. Subjects center on conditions for African Americans in the South, voting rights campaigns, and civil rights marches and rallies; includes images of the 1964 Democratic National Convention, the Mississippi Freedom Party and its own Freedom Vote convention, the Selma-Montgomery March, and large rallies in Washington, D.C. Several images show burned-out buildings and cars, and harassed and bloodied demonstrators. People who have been identified in the photographs include Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Bob Moses, and Fannie Lou Hamer. Acquired as part of the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture at Duke University.
Extent:
4.0 Linear Feet (5 boxes)
Language:
English
Collection ID:
RL.11932

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists chiefly of 277 black-and-white photographs in sizes ranging from 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches to 16 x 20 inches, taken by SNCC photographers during Southern civil rights campaigns from 1963-1965. A selection of these prints was used for the first major SNCC photography exhibit, curated by Betty Brown and George Love, which opened in New York City in July 1965 and was titled "NOW." The collection also includes nine folders of related paper records such as correspondence, fliers, brochures, and a diagram of the exhibit layout; there are also voting rights campaign materials, including ephemeral publications on the Mississippi Freedom Party and Freedom Vote, a copy of the U.S. Senate Voting Rights Amendment Bill, and posters with images by SNCC photographers.

A list of photographers whose work appeared in the NOW exhibit is also found in the Exhibit-Related Materials group, but with a few exceptions, library staff have not been able to link them to the photographs in the collection. Photographers whose work has been identified in the collection through initials or other sources are: Joffré Clarke, Bob Fletcher, Danny Lyon, Fred DeVan, and Tamio Wakayama.

Although the prints are almost all unidentified and unattributed, contextual sources indicate that they were chiefly taken in Mississippi, with some from Georgia and Alabama; other locations may include Maryland and Arkansas.

Subjects center on social and economic conditions for African Americans in rural areas and small towns, voting rights campaigns, and civil rights marches and rallies; includes images of the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, the Mississippi Freedom Party and its own Freedom Vote convention, the Selma-Montgomery March, and large rallies in Washington, D.C. Several images show burned-out buildings and cars in an unidentified location, and harassed and bloodied demonstrators.

Images set in rural areas and African American inhabitants include photographs of women and children in stark conditions of poverty, laborers in cotton fields, men performing hog butchering, and the interiors of homes, general stores, and schools.

There are few images of SNCC staff, but there are a few photographs showing young people canvassing and volunteering for voter registration or leading education sessions in the fields. Notable people who have been identified in the photographs include civil rights activists Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Bob Moses, and Fannie Lou Hamer.

Biographical / historical:

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) played a major role in the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. SNCC's major contribution was in its field work, organizing voter registration drives all over the South, especially in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

In 1965, SNCC held its first major photography exhibit, "NOW." Conceived as a public education tool as well as a fundraising event, it opened July 15, 1965 at the Visual Arts Gallery in New York City. The exhibit comprised 85 photographs drawn from the portfolios of SNCC photographers. The exhibit was curated by Betty Brown (1934-2020), news editor for Popular Photography magazine and SNCC supporter and activist, and George Love (1937-1995), photographer and consultant to the project, and director of the Heliography Gallery in New York City. The show traveled to locations in New England, Canada, and to Detroit. A second show, "US," opened in 1967, and it too was planned as a traveling exhibit; a brochure for this second show is located in this collection.

[Source for exhibit information: SAVF-Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) (Social Action vertical file, circa 1930-2002; Archives Main Stacks, Mss 577, Box 47, Folder 15), report on Photo Unit in Atlanta by Joffré Clarke, p.2.]

Acquisition information:
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) "NOW" exhibit photographs and related materials were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2021.
Processing information:

Processed and described by Paula Jeannet, October 2021.

Accession(s) described in this collection guide: 2021-0027.

Arrangement:

Arranged in three groupings: Photographs, Exhibit-Related Materials, and Voting Rights Materials. Proof prints are arranged in job number order; other photographic materials are arranged in original order as received.

Physical facet:
277 photographs
Dimensions:
The photographs fall into three size groups: 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches; 5 x 7 inches; and larger prints ranging from 11 x 14 to 16 x 20 inches.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) "NOW" exhibit photographs and related materials, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University

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