Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items or to get them started on research.
Today’s question is from a reader who’s looking for a Jet magazine photo of himself from a 1963 protest march in Atlanta. He wrote the question as a query to another reader who had some magazines that had belonged to her grandmother.
Question:
In the spring of 1963, I along with students from Morehouse and Spelman were picketing the segregated Henry Grady Hotel in Atlanta. Jet magazine got a picture of us in front of the hotel and I was wondering if you could assist me to find that image.
Answer:
I informed the reader that I doubted if the woman could help him obtain a photo. Besides, I shy away from connecting readers, for liability reasons.
But I was curious about the protest. Googling, I found it mentioned in a roundup of protests and other actions in a newspaper story about police brutality complaints in various cities. An Associated Press story in the Tuscaloosa, AL, newspaper reported that two students were arrested during an “anti-segregation” demonstration in the lobby of the Grady Hotel in Atlanta. It noted that the hotel was owned by the state and leased to a corporation.
“Pickets paraded outside the hotel for a time carrying signs reading, “No Room at this Inn,” “Dallas, Houston, Miami – Why not Atlanta,” and “Forward Atlanta – Down with Segregated Hotels.”
The move to desegregate Atlanta’s public facilities had begun a few years earlier. Inspired by a student sit-in at a lunch counter in Greensboro, NC, in February 1960, African American college students in Atlanta decided it was time for them to do the same. About a month later, Morehouse College student Lonnie King, along with Julian Bond and others, organized a group of students from six African American colleges to plan their demonstration against segregation.
The group developed “An Appeal for Human Rights” manifesto, and published it as an ad in black and white newspapers in the city. The student campaign consisted of nonviolent sit-ins and boycotts at government buildings, lunch counters, white churches, movie theaters and department stores. The group also filed lawsuits seeking to open up city hospitals, parks and pools.
The schools and downtown stores were desegregated in 1961 after an agreement was reached between business leaders and the older black leadership, leaving out the students.
However, most hotels and restaurants did not desegregate, including Grady Hotel, and were the subject of protests. When students were refused rooms at Grady, they opened their suitcases, took out their pillows and blankets, and slept in the lobby. Two were arrested. The next day, college students marched in front of the hotel, which was also a meeting site for the Klan and other segregationists.
A few restaurants decided to accept black patrons, but it wasn’t clear which ones did and which ones didn’t. Unsure, blacks stayed away from most of the restaurants, and the places remained segregated. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed segregation in hotels and other public accommodations.
As for the reader, I asked if he had Googled to find the magazine. I knew that Google has published complete books and magazines on the web, and perhaps Jet was among them. I also came across a link that offered copies of the magazine, and suggested that he find a precise date.
I didn’t believe that photos were for sale from the Jet archives, but if he could find the right edition he might be able to buy the magazine on eBay or an online retail site.
Reader’s reply:
I found it on page 9 of the March 28, 1963, issue of Jet. I am the fella in front with the sign that says, “Why not Atlanta!” Now, I have to find a way to capture the picture, enlarge it and print it.
My reply:
Your best bet is to buy the magazine on eBay. I don’t think you can download the pix from that website. I found the magazine for sale on eBay for $13. The photo appears too small to enlarge for a frame – unless it’s a small frame. Either way it will be pixelated.
I’d suggest buying the magazine and framing the open page.
