Photographic slide of the Poor People's Campaign

Photograph by

Robert Houston, American, born 1935

Subject of

Poor People's Campaign, American, 1967 - 1968

Unidentified Man or Men

Unidentified Child or Children

Created by

Rogers Color Laboratory Corp., American, 1964 - 1996

Medium

reversal film and plastic

Dimensions

H x W: 1 15/16 × 1 15/16 in. (4.9 × 4.9 cm)

Type

color slides

Classification

Media Arts-Photography

Place depicted

National Mall, Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America

Date

May 13, 1968 - June 23, 1968

Caption

This slide is part of a collection of 35mm slides encapsulating Robert Houston's full portfolio of images related to the Poor People's Campaign and the antipoverty protest camp on the National Mall. Known as "Resurrection City," the camp lasted for six weeks in the spring of 1968.

Description

This color slide depicts an elderly man with a cane seated on a cardboard box next to a little girl seated on a suitcase in Resurrection City. The man wears a grey suit over a brown shirt. He has thick grey mustache, a brown hat and a cane resting against his legs. He sits on a cardboard box and rests his back against another stack of boxes that has packages and blankets balanced on top. He is in profile to the viewer. Next to him is a girl in a grey knee length coat. She is sitting on a brown suitcase, resting her back against the same pile of boxes as the elderly man. She is turned three-quarters away from the viewer.

Topic

Activism

Civil rights

Housing

Local and regional

Photography

Politics (Practical)

Poverty

United States--History--1961-1969

Credit Line

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number

2015.245.115

Restrictions & Rights

© Robert Houston