The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom - Traveling Exhibity by ArtVision Exhibitions LLC

Follow along the historic journey of the 1963 March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom through the powerful images of famed photojournalist Stanley Tretick

Formerly on loan to: Nova Southeastern University; University of Houston;

University of South Florida at Tampa; St. Lawrence University, The Coventry Cathedral, Coventry England,

DuSable Museum of African-American History, Chicago, IL

EXHIBITION CONTENTS:

(1) 12 foot x 8 foot reflection mural; (49) black & white photographs: (26) framed (22 x 28) and (23) framed (20 x 14) with captions, wall text panels, media kit, and (50) exhibit posters for use as new membership incentives.

All Photos © Estate of Stanley Tretick LLC

And Freedom For All

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Special Edition Exhibition Poster

Measures 18 x 24 - $29

Exhibit Poster

In late June of 1963, during a meeting with President Kennedy, the "Big Six" leaders of the Civil Rights Movement informed the President that there would be a March on Washington. It was in that meeting that A. Philip Randolph, the dean of the black leadership, said to President Kennedy in his robust baritone voice, "Mr. President, the black masses are restless and we are going to march on Washington.

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. Attended by some 250,000 people, it was the largest demonstration ever seen in the nation's capital. Stanley Tretick was assigned by LOOK magazine to cover the March behind-the-scenes with organizers and program speakers A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mathew Ahmann, Whitney Young, Floyd McKissick, John Lewis, Walter Reuther, Rabbi Joachim Prinz, and Eugene Carson Blake as they led the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and where history led Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to deliver his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

"History gives us powerful examples of man at his best and his worst. In Martin Luther King, we find a man who reflects the very best of humanity. He lived a life of courage and service, and he continues to inspire people of all ages. In rememberhing him and his dream, we better ourselves. Through Stanley Tretick's powerful photographs in the exhibit And Freedom For All, we are proud once again to give voice to Dr. King and his struggle for equality and freedom."

The exhibit also explores President John F. Kennedy's "Radio and Television Report to the American People on Civil Rights" of June 11, 1963 and Robert F. Kennedy's Statement on the "Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.," delivered in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 4, 1968.

Tretick is best known today for the photographs he took of President Kennedy relaxing with his children. Kennedy was well aware of the public relations value of images that depicted him as a family man with a moral agenda. While the President’s wife Jackie fought to maintain an umbrella of privacy for young Caroline and John, Jr., Tretick grew close to the family. His photographs of them published in LOOK from 1960 to 1964, helped define the American family of the early sixties and lent Kennedy an endearing credibility that greatly contributed to his popularity. A 1962 LOOK cover of Kennedy driving his nieces and nephews in a golf cart, taken at the family compound in Hyannisport, is akin to the patriotic, illustrative paintings of Norman Rockwell that still graced the covers of The Saturday Evening Post. Tretick’s uncanny understanding of the symbolic value of such imagery allowed him to focus on small humanistic moments within the power and politics of Washington.

In October 1963, Stanley Tretick took his most famous photograph for an article about the relationship between the President and his son. While Jackie was away in Greece, Tretick was allowed to join the father and son, walking the halls of the White House and playing together in the Oval Office. As John, Jr. popped his bemused face out from under the President’s desk, with Kennedy seated behind, Tretick created an image that embodies both the myth and memory of Camelot. When Kennedy was assassinated several weeks later, these pictures were already on their way to the newsstands and helped create a lasting impression of the man, communicated through photography.

Stanley Tretick died in July 1999 at the age of 77, just days after John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s plane crashed off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.

About the photographer: Stanley Tretick:

An archetypical photojournalist, Stanley Tretick was born in Baltimore and raised in Washington, graduating from Central High School. Trained as a photographer in the Marine Corps, he served in the pacific during World War II and then covered D.C. as a tough-talking cameraman. Following a stint as a copy boy for The Washington Post, he joined Acme Newspictures and photographed combat during the Korean War. Later Tretick moved to United Press, documenting Capitol Hill and the presidential campaigns of the fifties. The agency, soon known as United Press International, sent Tretick on the road with Kennedy in 1960; the photographer befriended the candidate and made many of his best pictures during this time. When Kennedy took office, Tretick was given extensive access to the White House and the picture magazine LOOK hired him to cover the President and his family.

Sample audio clip: Walter Cronkite narrates... Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated, April 4, 1968

In an ACME exclusive story dated September 11, 1950, the caption reads as follows: "SAVED BY FILM PACK"

SOUTH KOREA: Displaying the film pack which saved him from a flying chunk of shrapnel, Stanley Tretick, Acme staff correspondent, thanks his lucky stars. Covering the Korean War with a camera can be a pretty rugged chore, ask Stanley.