Joan Little Gets Kiss from Dick Gregory: Civil Rights activist and comedian Dick Gregory plants a kiss on Joan Little's cheek after a brief talk with her during the noon recess of her murder trial in Raleigh, North Carolina. The prosecution has finished its examination of her testimony.

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.

Joan Little (pronounced "Jo Ann") (born 1953) is a black woman charged for the 1974 murder of Clarence Alligood, a white prison guard at Beaufort County Jail in Washington, North Carolina. Little's trial made her a cause célèbre of the Civil Rights, Feminist, and Anti-death Penalty Movements. She was the first woman in United States history to be acquitted using the defense that she used deadly force to resist sexual assault. Her case has become classic in legal circles as a pioneering instance of the application of scientific jury selection.

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

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
• Dick Gregory
• Dick Gregory
• Injustice
• Joan Little
• Kissing
• Racial Discrimination
• Raleigh
• Trials

• Image Dimensions: 9 9/16 x 7 1/16 in. (24.29 x 17.94 cm) Measured by Cornejo-Reynoso, Aitzin
• Sheet Dimensions: 10 x 8 in. (25.4 x 20.32 cm) Measured by Cornejo-Reynoso, Aitzin