Tiresome Business: Two National Guardsmen appear to be exhausted after three nights of around-the-clock duty patrolling against violence and vandalism in Cleveland's riot-torn area. The unrest seems to be tapering off, with police reinforced by nearly 2,000 guardsmen sealing off the slum storm area.

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.

On verso: Handwritten in blue ink near center right, "Riots - Cleaveland ,Ohio [underlined] / 1966". Stamped in pink ink upside down near center left: "RETURN to: / CHRONICLE FILES / JUL 27 1966". Handwritten in graphite at bottom left edge: "CVL-RT-463/CEK 2500".

Sheet: 7 1/4 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:

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

• Image Dimensions: 6 7/16 x 7 15/16 in. (16.35 x 20.16 cm)