Civil rights-era photographer donates camera to museum

Associated Press

6 years ago

In this Aug. 17, 2017 photograph, Jerry W. Keahey Sr., stands with the Speed Graphic 2 1/4x3 1/4 camera he used to document life on the campus of Tougaloo College during his time as a student in the 1960s, at a Jackson, Miss., function. Images taken with the camera include several group photographs of the Tougaloo Nine student activists shown in the background print. These student activists attempted to integrate the Jackson Municipal Library in 1961. Keahey Sr., recently donated the camera to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

JACKSON, Miss. — A photographer who captured iconic images of black students challenging segregation is donating his camera to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

In a state Department of Archives and History news release, Jerry W. Keahey Sr. says he hopes his camera will be displayed near his photos in the museum’s exhibition about the Tougaloo Nine.

The students from historically black Tougaloo College staged a nonviolent sit-in at Jackson Municipal Library in 1961. The library had been reserved for white people.

Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers worked with the students to plan the sit-in. The four women and five men were charged with breach of peace and spent 32 hours in jail. Each was convicted, fined $100 and given a 30-day suspended jail sentence. The case was later dismissed on appeal.