CATHEDRAL CITY PUBLIC ARTS COMMISSION PRESENTS: Martin Luther King, Jr. & the Civil Rights Movement: Montgomery, Alabama, 1955 – Photography by Donald Cravens
The Cathedral City Public Arts Commission proudly presents the exhibit of Martin Luther King Jr. & the Civil Rights Movement- Montgomery, Alabama, 1955 being held in the lobby of Cathedral City’s Civic Center, 68-700 Avenida Lalo Guerrero, from January 19 – March 31, 2015. The public is invited to view the historical photographs by Donald Cravens that document the beginning of the civil rights movement. The lobby gallery is open Mondays through Thursdays between the hours of 9:00 am to 11:45 am and 1:15 pm to 6:00 pm.
Additionally, the Commission will host an Opening Reception celebrating Martin Luther King’s role in the civil rights movement and will recognize the contributions of photo journalist, Donald Cravens, whose published photos for Life magazine brought world-wide attention to racial injustice.
Reception: January 19, 2015, 2 pm to 4:00 pm, City Hall, Cathedral City. The reception is free and open to the public. It will be catered by Cello’s Bistro.
About the Exhibition:
This exhibition features several iconic photographs of the civil rights movement on loan from the Donald and Peggy Cravens private collection. The photos, originally published in Life magazine during the 1950s, focuses on the early critical events of the civil rights movement- from the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Rosa Parks in 1955 to the lynching of Mack Charles Parker in 1959 (Empty Cell, Empty Boots). Other photos feature community leaders who join forces to support their cause (Holt Street and the Ebenezer Baptist Church). Rising above the social upheaval and violence that ensued around forced segregation, a promising leader, Martin Luther King, Jr., would emerge to galvanize and give hope to the African-American community.
(Picture: Motorcycle police in Montgomery, Alabama – Photo by Donald Cravens)
