Gregory arrives to see Meredith: Chicago comedian Dick Gregory, wearing denim jacket and Western attire, reads a Memphis newspaper as he waits in the administrator's office at William F. Bowld Hospital Tuesday morning for word of James Meredith's condition. Gregory arrived in Memphis from Chicago with the announced purpose of taking up Meredith's Memphis- to - Jackson, Mississippi march at the point where Meredith was shot Monday afternoon.

James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is a trailblazer in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1962, he became the first black American student admitted to the University of Mississippi, following an intense legal battle in the federal courts. In 1966, Meredith planned a solo 220-mile March Against Fear from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi to highlight continuing racism in the South and to encourage voter registration after passage of the Voting Rights Act. On the second day, he was shot by a white gunman and suffered numerous wounds. Leaders of major organizations vowed to complete the march in his name after he was taken to the hospital. During his recovery, more people from across the country became involved as marchers. Meredith rejoined the march, and when he and other leaders entered Jackson on June 26, they were leading an estimated 15,000 marchers in what was the largest Civil Rights march in Mississippi.

Dick Gregory (1932-2017) was a black comedian, Civil Rights activist, social critic, writer, conspiracy theorist, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. During the 1960s, Gregory became a pioneer in stand-up comedy for his "no-holds-barred" sets, in which he mocked bigotry and racism. He performed primarily to black audiences at segregated clubs until 1961, when he became the first black comedian to successfully cross over to white audiences. Gregory was at the forefront of political activism in the 1960s, when he protested the Vietnam War and racial injustice.

Donated to the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College by Michael Mattis and Judy Hochberg on June 2, 2021.

Associated Press ID # 6606070313.

On recto: typewritten title and date.

On verso: manuscript title and date stamp, and newspaper stamp.

Photograph P2021.9.29 is visible in two other photographs in this collection. It is on the front page of a newspaper visible in P2021.9.49, and it is a two-page spread in a magazine visible in P2021.9.52. Additionally, P2021.9.53 is an image of James Meredith getting his wounds bandaged.

Sheet: 8 1/16 x 10

Wire photographs were originally transmitted over phonelines, then later, by satellite. They were first used in the early 1920s. Associated Press became a leader with this. After pigment touch-ups, etc., the print is put into a drum (like a drum scanner). The image gets converted into audio tones that are transmitted. The tones are received and beamed onto photo-sensitive paper. Wire photographs are copies without originals---they are hybrid, transmitted objects. (Britt Salvesen, Curator and Department Head, Photography Department, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, March 30-31, 2022)

This object has the following keywords:

• Attempted murder
• Aubrey James Norvell
• Broken barriers
• Civil Rights Movements
• Dick Gregory
• Dick Gregory
• Discrimination
• Hate
• Hate crimes
• Injuries
• Injustice
• James Meredith
• James Meredith
• Male Portraits
• March Against Fear
• Memphis
• Newspapers
• Shootings
• Students
• William F. Bowld Hospital

• Image Dimensions: 6 11/16 x 8 3/16 in. (16.99 x 20.8 cm)