A Housing Problem: this air view shows the lack of plywood housing in the self-styled "Resurrection City." Officials estimate they have housing for about 700 people. They are looking for temporary homes for hundreds more due over the weekend. At left is the Reflecting Pool, with the Washington Monument in center background. In far background, the dome of the Nation's Capitol can be seen. The big tent to the right of the plywood shanties is the dining area for the Poor People's Campaigners who are already housed near the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC.

On Tuesday, May 21, 1968, thousands of participants in the Poor People's March set up a shantytown on the Washington Mall known as "Resurrection City". It existed for six weeks. The city had its own zip code, 20013.

On recto: typewritten title and date.
On verso: manuscript title.

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:

• Aerial photography
• Civil Rights Movements
• Demonstrations
• Injustice
• Poor People's Campaign
• Poor People's Campaign
• Poverty
• Racial Discrimination
• Resurrection City
• The Reflecting Pool
• Washington DC
• Washington Monument

• Image Dimensions: 9 7/8 x 7 in. (25.08 x 17.78 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen
• Sheet Dimensions: 10 3/16 x 7 3/16 in. (25.88 x 18.26 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen