New Online: VCU Unveils Rare Collection of Virginia Civil Rights Protest Photographs

From Virginia Commonwealth University:

Virginia Commonwealth University is hoping for the public’s help in shedding new light on a pivotal moment in the civil rights struggle in Virginia with a new exhibit of 277 photographs taken during nonviolent civil rights protests in Farmville, Va., in the summer of 1963.
VCU Libraries has posted these images to the photo sharing site Flickr to create the Freedom Now Project, a group of 13 photo sets that provides a close-up look at the protests held in downtown Farmville.
The project’s aim is to provide insight into the experience of nonviolent civil dissent, and the response of a Virginia town to these demonstrations. As part of the project, the public is being invited to participate in the exhibit by sharing information they may have about people and locations and contributing personal remembrances about these historic events.
“The photographs in the Freedom Now Project make a significant contribution to our understanding of a very important event in the history of Virginia and the nation,” said Alice Campbell, a VCU Libraries digital initiatives archivist who is overseeing the project. “By sharing them on Flickr, we hope to reach a broad audience – which could be anyone from primary school students to researchers, citizens of Farmville, the commonwealth of Virginia, or anywhere in the world.”
The photographs, which were shot by a photographer hired by the Farmville Police Department for use as evidence in the case of any arrests, are the largest collection of the Farmville protests ever made publicly available online.
“We hope that, by opening the collection up to comments, we can learn more about the people and events depicted, thereby increasing the collection’s value for future research, and preserving a record of Americans whose persistence and bravery helped move the nation closer to the promise of justice for all,” Campbell said.

Read the Complete Announcement
Learn more about the Farmville Protests.
Direct to Freedom Now Web Site  and Images (via VCU Libraries)
See Also: New Stanford Photo Archive Highlights Turbulent Times of Civil Rights Movement, Some Digitized Images Already Available Online (April 7, 2014)

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