Civil Rights Struggle And Success Take Center Stage At Spady Museum In January January 4, 2010

Delray Beach – October 2009 – The Spady Cultural Heritage Museum (www.spadymuseum.org) will showcase a multi-media exhibition detailing the sacrifices, challenges, vision and everyday courage demonstrated by political leaders, students and regular people during the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-1960s.

“Oh Freedom Over Me” will be on display from January 4-March 27, 2010, held in conjunction with the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast on January 18, 2010.

On loan from the Center of Documentary Studies at Duke University , “Oh Freedom Over Me” is a collection of 13 documentary-style photographs and ten photographic banners, along with video and film footage, of the work done in the southeast U.S. to bring about voting and educational rights for African-Americans.

Inspired by the work of the Farm Security Administration photographers, Matt Herron sought to create a similar record of the Civil Rights Movement, in which he was active. Though he was admonished by Dorothea Lange that he might have a problem with objectivity, in the summer of 1964 he organized a team of eight photographers, called the Southern Documentary Project, in an attempt to record the rapid social change taking place in Mississippi and other parts of the South as civil rights organizations brought non-southern college students to work in voter registration and education.

Many photographers were doing work in and around the movement at this time—some as independent documentarians, some as photojournalists on assignment for media organizations, some as part of their work for the movement. Danny Lyon, for example, who became part of the Southern Documentary Project, was the official photographer from 1962 to 1964 for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which helped to organize the action that came to be known as Freedom Summer.

With varying degrees of success and with financial support from Life magazine and Black Star Photo Agency, Herron, Lyon , George Ballis, Dave Prince, and others created one of the more important bodies of documentary images from the Civil Rights era.

“We selected this exhibit not only to coincide with the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, but also to remember how much work, faith and physical sacrifice was devoted to bringing our country to where it is today,” said Spady Museum Educator Brandy Brownlee.

“It is so crucial that all generations recognize how much was overcome in order for us to peacefully live in the kind of diverse communities we do now. Last year at our MLK Breakfast, we celebrated President Barack Obama through the lens of Dr. King’s dream. This year, we hope to pay homage to the courage of the people who didn’t give up on the promise of civil rights, no matter what it cost them.”

To purchase tickets to the Martin Luther King Breakfast (8 a.m., January 18, 2010 at the Delray Beach Golf Club), visit www.spadymuseum.org and click on “MLK Breakfast.” Tickets are $20 for adults; $10 for children.

To learn more about the “Oh Freedom Over Me” exhibit, visit http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/oh_freedom/index.html/

The Spady Cultural Heritage Museum , a non-profit organization located at 170 NW 5th Avenue in Delray Beach , is dedicated to discovering, collecting and sharing the African-American history and heritage of Florida . It is the only museum of its kind in Palm Beach County . Admission is $5 for adults; $3 for seniors; students and members free. For more information, call 561-279-8883 or visit www.spadymuseum.org

Official Website: http://www.spadymuseum.com