Lest We Forget… Images of the Black Civil Rights Movement
Date and Time for this Past Event
- Fri, Dec 8, 2023 - Mon, May 6, 2024 9am - 5pm
Location
National Civil Rights Museum
450 Mulberry St
Details
Lest We Forget… Images of the Black Civil Rights Movement is a traveling collection, showcasing 35 powerful portraits and images by Robert Templeton, captures key figures and moments from the Black civil rights movement, spanning from the Niagara Movement to the 1970s.
Against the backdrop of Templeton's humble beginnings in the Great Depression, his passion for art blossomed, defying norms to pursue a career in painting. Influenced by Norman Rockwell's iconic Saturday Evening Post covers, he defied convention by choosing art as a career. He was inspired by the turmoil of the 1967 Detroit riots and embarked on a mission to visually document the struggle for equal rights.
In his collaboration with Benjamin Mays, creating a list of individuals whose portraits would embody the fight for equal rights, he painted iconic leaders like Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Vice President Hubert Humphrey, A. Phillip Randolph, and others. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated before a sitting could be scheduled, so for Dr. King’s portrait, Coretta Scott King helped Templeton choose the photo which became the basis of Templeton’s largest and most impressive portrait.
