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Witness to History: Virtual Conversation

Witness to History: Virtual Conversation

Stephen Somerstein, Marchers on the Jefferson Davis highway on their way to Montgomery, inkjet exhibition print, framed: 22 x 28 in. Collection of the artist. © Stephen Somerstein
Stephen Somerstein, Marchers on the Jefferson Davis highway on their way to Montgomery, inkjet exhibition print, framed: 22 x 28 in. Collection of the artist. © Stephen Somerstein

Photographer Stephen Somerstein and Dr. Clayborne Carson, Ronnie Lott Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University will discuss the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery March and Somerstein’s experiences in documenting this significant moment in America’s Civil Rights Movement. The conversation will be moderated by Brandywine Curator Amanda C. Burdan, Ph.D.

This program will be held online on Zoom and is free of charge; registration is required.

In March of 1965, Stephen Somerstein took a 25-hour bus ride to Alabama to cover a civil rights march for his college newspaper. With five cameras and only 15 rolls of film, he captured photographs of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other prominent activists as well as his fellow demonstrators and the many people who had gathered along the route. The photograph Somerstein took while standing behind Dr. King as he delivered his now famous, “How Long? Not Long” speech has become so iconic that it was recreated for the promotion of the 2014 film Selma. A selection of these photographs is on view at the Brandywine River Museum of Art through November 1 in the exhibition, Witness to History: Selma Photography of Stephen Somerstein.