Depictions of civil rights and political activism in New York City and Washington, D.C., from 1949 to 1954, consisting of studio portraits and candid shots of political activists and police brutality victims; a group portrait of activists; and views of a petition presentation, a meeting, rallies, protest marchers, a crowd gathered for a jail release, and a staged demonstration at a public site. Of note are views of demonstrators, protesting the imprisonment of death row inmate Willie McGee, gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, D.C. (1951); a vigil and march protesting the executions of the Martinsville (Va.) Seven, a group of African American men convicted of raping a White woman, outside the White House in Washington, D.C. (1951); and views of a group led by actor and activist Paul Robeson presenting a petition to a United Nations representative, charging the United States with genocide against African Americans citizens (1951).Among the individuals depicted include Civil Rights Congress Executive Secretary William L. Patterson, Brooklyn (N.Y.) community activist and political candidate Ada B. Jackson, and labor leader and Communist Party member Marcel Scherer.
Content: Some photographs bear photographer's hand stamp on verso. Many items bear handwritten captions on verso. Some items are mounted; some items are cropped; some items are duplicates.
Biographical/historical: Edward Schwartz, 1906-2005, was a Brooklyn, New York, born photographer, who was a founding member of the Photo League (1936-1951), a cooperative of New York City photographers who were active in creating socially conscious photography.
Physical Description
Extent: 76 items (.2 cubic ft., one box)
Extent: 74 photographic prints :gelatin silver, black and white ;21 x 26 cm and smaller.
Extent: 2 contact sheets :gelatin silver, black and white ;26 x 21 cm
