o speak to Ernest C. Withers 77, one can tell by Ernest
Withers' voice and how carefully he chooses his words that he puts a great deal of thought into everything he does. And as an acclaimed photographer of the civil rights struggle, his work reflects that
thoughtfulness. It seeped into many of the moments he has captured on film .
His exhibit "Let Us March On! Selected Civil Rights Photographs of Ernest C. Withers
1955-1968," is a collection of 60 photographs documenting key moments in the history of the movement.
The photographs are on display at Charlotte's Museum Of the New South downtown at 7th and
College streets.
Withers' exhibit is the latest addition to several civil rights exhibits currently on display or planned for display at the soon-to-be remodeled museum.
Although the pictures themselves are vivid visual testaments to the struggles of the individuals and the obstacles they faced in order to acheive equality, it is Withers himself, who blessed
with a sharp memory, can really tell the stories behind each photo.
The photographer can supply names and dates only found in documentaries, not just from the
view of an anonymous observer, but as a participant well.
A native of Memphis, Tenn., Withers grew up in a large family, and was raised by a proud father and mother.
Around elementary school, he was introduced to photography unknowingly by his sister's boyfriend.
"My older sister bought a camera for a then-boyfriend she had in the early 1930's," recalls
Withers. "He didn't care for it and let me use it, I brought it to school with me."
One day the wife of the then-heavyweight champion of the world Joe Louis came to his
school, and courageously, Withers left the back of the auditorium, made his way to the stage, where he took Marva Louis's picture and became known as a photographer to his peers and
teachers..."some what," he adds.
Withers did not become a professional photographer until after going into the military in the 1940's, spending some time in military camps in North Carolina.
It was at Camp Sutton in Monroe that Withers convinced his commanding officers to allow him to attend the local Army school where he studied photography in depth, and then traveled overseas to practice his trade.
While overseas he photographed the devastation of the atom bomb.
When he came out of the military in 1946, he began to serve black newspapers all over the country from his hometown of Memphis.
The black publications of the South and the country weren't receiving wire services from daily wire services like the UPI or AP, (but from) the black Defender Publications, based in
Memphis, and one of its outlets in Mississippi.
As incidents began to escalate in the South in the 50's, Withers began traveling with the reporters and documenting pivotal events all over the south.
He was there for the search for the missing four young civil rights workers later found murdered.
And he was present at the trial of the murderers of Emmitt Till, photographing a lone elderly
black man pointing his finger and identifying the men who dragged Till into the night where they lynched him and dumped his body into the river.
These were fearful times, especially for black and white journalists alike, who were seen as the enemy by many opposed to the civil rights struggle, Withers had many close calls but
remained undaunted even in the face of a white mob that at the time chose not to kill him or his mentor, reporter Alex Wilson, on a lonely road one evening.
"I was a young fella guided and directed by him...having some fear, but even in the fear, after things are all over you pick up a little more courage...but somehow through prayer, and
determination and persuasion on the part of your writer, you lived through it," says Withers.
Withers did more than just survive, he supplied the visual proof of the brutality and
courageousness in the acts of both sides of the Civil Rights movement.
One of his most stunning photographs is that of a victim of a lynch mob.
And his pictures circulated through black publications all over the country, from Jet to The Pittsburgh Courier, The New York Amsterdam News, The Washington Afro-American, The
Chicago Defender, and later mainstream publications like Time, Life, and Newsweek.
From his camera came photos of Dr. Martin Luther King leading the Memphis sanitation
workers strike in 1968, and some poignant photos of the aftermath of King's assassination.
Two striking photos on display are of the contents of King's suitcase, and the chilling photo of
King's blood on the concrete floor of the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.
Other photos include the smiling face of an older black woman holding up her voter's
registration card for all to see. And then there is the heart stopping photograph of a black father staring down a car load of leering policemen as he pushes his infant daughter in her
carriage during a picket line protest.
In the sixty photos on display, all black and white, Withers' legacy as an acclaimed photographer is obvious.
However, Withers is reluctant to toot his own horn. He knows these moments were important, and though he is aware of the accolades he has received, he's also quick to
mention the works of other photographers long forgotten, who came before him and after him, like David Jackson and Meneaus Sleat.
But he is more proud of the legacy of his own family, he and his wife and seven children, one now also a photographer, and the rest who have on gone to college.
Withers , who describes himself as 'a hen-pecked husband, pecked by the best hen," still lives in Memphis with his wife, and has his work on display in universities in his home state, and in
galleries all over the country.
He is a member of the Black Press Hall of Fame.
He will be in Charlotte next week for the formal opening of his exhibit Monday at 7:30 pm. at the Museum of the New South.
