Ten Feet Tall: Black youngster strides straight and tall between ranks of National Guardsmen on duty in a riot-torn section of Cleveland. Strife weary city is girding itself for another possible night of vandalism and violence.

The Hough Riots were riots in the predominantly black community of Hough (pronounced "Huff") in Cleveland, Ohio. They took place July 18-23, 1966. During the riots, four black Americans were killed and fifty people were injured. There were 275 arrests and numerous incidents of arson and fire bombings. City officials at first blamed black nationalist and communist organizations for the riots. Historians generally dismiss these claims today, arguing that the causes of the Hough Riots were primarily poverty and racism. The riots caused rapid population loss and economic decline in the area, which lasted at least five decades after the riots.

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

Associated Press ID # 6607221147.

On verso: Handwritten in red graphite near top, "Riots and Demonstrations 1966 / Cleaveland O. [encircled in red graphite]". Stamped in blue ink near center: "PLAIN DEALER LIBRARY / JUL 27 1966". Handwritten in graphite at bottom left edge: "CVL-RT-034.1/CEK 2500".

Sheet: 7 7/16 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:

• Child Portraits
• Civil Rights Movements
• Cleveland
• Discrimination
• Guardsmen
• Hough Riots
• Injustice
• National Guard
• Street Scenes

• Image Dimensions: 7 1/8 x 8 11/16 in. (18.1 x 22.07 cm)