- Collection:
- 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike
- Title:
- Police and protesters, Memphis, 1968
- Creator:
- Memphis press scimitar
- Date of Original:
- 1968
- Subject:
- Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tenn., 1968
Strikes and lockouts--Tennessee--Memphis
Sanitation workers--Tennessee--Memphis
Civil rights movements--Tennessee--Memphis
Civil rights--African Americans--Tennessee--Memphis
Civil rights--Tennessee--Memphis
Civil rights demonstrations--Tennessee--Memphis
Memphis (Tenn.)--Race relations
Race relations
Race discrimination--Tennessee--Memphis
Strikes and lockouts--Sanitation--Tennessee--Memphis
Strikes and lockouts--Refuse collectors--Tennessee--Memphis
Police--Tennessee--Memphis
African Americans--Tennessee--Memphis
African Americans--Violence against--Tennessee--Memphis
Violence--Tennessee--Memphis
Police brutality--Tennessee--Memphis
Men, White--Tennessee--Memphis
Riots--Tennessee--Memphis - Location:
- United States, Tennessee, Shelby County, Memphis, 35.14953, -90.04898
- Medium:
- black-and-white photographs
- Type:
- StillImage
- Format:
- image/jpeg
- Description:
- Black-and-white photograph from 1968 taken by the Memphis Press-Scimitar newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee. In the photograph, white policemen in gas masks and riot gear stand on the corner while African American young men and women appear to run away from them. One young man appears to have just tripped on the shoe of an officer, while another tries to step over a tipped-over garbage can; the young man holds his glasses in his hand and has turned away from an unseen officer spraying mace. In the foreground, an African American woman in sunglasses holds a handkerchief to her mouth.
The Memphis Sanitation Workers' strike began on February 11, 1968, following years of dangerous working conditions, discrimination, and the work-related deaths of two African American sanitation workers. Led by local clergy, including Methodist pastor James Lawson, community members engaged in boycotts, mass meetings, marches, and other civil disobedience in support of the strike. The strike ended April 12, 1968.
The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata. - Local Identifier:
- sc.0475.90012_01.015
- Metadata URL:
- https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-swstrike/135/
- Original Collection:
- 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike, PS 90012, University of Memphis Libraries Special Collections, Memphis, Tennessee
- Contributing Institution:
- University of Memphis. Libraries. Special Collections Department
- Rights:
-
