I Am A Man: Civil Rights Photographs, 1960–1970

I AM A MAN: Civil Rights Photographs, 1960–1970

This spring, our Art @ the Center exhibit features photographs taken during the Civil Rights Movement between 1960 and 1970. The images in this collection offer a glimpse into the courage and brutality of the 1960s, a decade that unleashed hope for the future as well as profound and tumultuous changes. Viewers will recognize photographs of protesters carrying signs with messages such as “I AM A MAN” or sitting at segregated lunch counters as iconic, familiar images associated with the Civil Rights Movement.

Our exhibit is proud to emphasize the role of student activism in the Civil Rights Movement while also featuring organizers, journalists, and ordinary citizens who risked their lives to end Jim Crow segregation within the American South. Curated by Professor Emeritus and former Senior Associate Director of CSAS, Bill Ferris, in collaboration with Gilles Mora; these images were recently hosted at the Pavillon Populaire in Montpellier, France.

Photographs will remain on display through May 2019.

Special thanks to our co-sponsors: UNC University Libraries, Department of History, Institute for African American Research, Black Communities Conference, and Southern Cultures.