Photo Gallery: While the boycott, itself, was not recorded in motion film, it was captured by two commercial and news photographers in Baton Rouge at the time. One of the photographers was Francis Julias, a commercial photographer who snapped two dozen of the only widely viewed photographs of the boycott. Additionally, the production team has located a number of additional boycott photographs. However, pictures of the actual boycott, its participants and the carpools that made it work, are limited. Julias also photographed a number of Baton Rouge ’s working class African American residents as poignant snapshots of their lives. gallery 1 Another photographer who captured the event was acclaimed photographer A.E. Wooley. Wooley also captured images of life in Baton Rouge in the 1950s. His photo collection is currently held by Louisiana State University, Special Collections. gallery 2 We also rely heavily on a wealth of photographs which depict the vibrant culture and political life of Baton Rouge’s African American community during the 1950s. Many of the pictures were taken by photographer Willie Harris. Harris worked as a Southern University campus police officer for nearly four decades, beginning in 1945. At the same time, he worked as a professional photographer, capturing important events in the lives of Baton Rouge ’s black residents, everything from political organizations and historical events, to family weddings and church socials. Many of his photographs are privately owned, but many appeared in local black newspapers. In 1997, more than 40,000 of Harris’ photographs were discovered in a closet at Southern University. Most of these photographs had not been viewed in more than 50 years. Additionally our production team has located numerous privately held photograph collections, which have never been viewed by an audience. gallery 3 View the Gallery gallery 1 © 2004 The Ernest Richie Collection |
