He captured the history of African Americans in black and white reality, joy, hardship, celebration and life. His legacy includes over 400,000 photographs that include such historic events as the March on Washington and the march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama.
Historic, iconic and famous people such as Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X, Josephine Baker, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis Jr, James Baldwin, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Jame Brown and numerous others are included in his collection.
He contributed to Philadelphia newspapers, The Inquirer, The Bulletin, The Philadelphia Tribune, The Daily News and the iconic duo Ebony and Jet magazines. and his work was also exhibited and featured at the Smithsonian Institute.
He died recently at the age of 87 on September 20th 2009 and his collection of photography has been housed at the African American Museum since 2006.
Thanks for this lovely piece on my uncle...Joyce Owens
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