Reads Law On "Common Law" Marriages: Secretary of the White Citizens Council of New Orleans George Singelmann (right) reads Louisiana laws concerning common law marriages at a press conference in Bogalusa, where it was revealed that several prominent blacks in the Civil Rights Movement here would be arrested. From left are: J. B. Stone of Atlanta, attorney for the National States Rights Party; Reverend Connie Lynch of San Bernadino, California; C. E. Vetter, Acting President of Louisiana Whites Citizens Counci;l and Saxon Farmer, official of the Bogalusa Citizens Council, Louisiana.

Earlier on July 12, 1965, the Citizens Council of Louisiana announced a segregationist drive against common law marriages among blacks. Singelmann cited a Louisiana law making common law marriage illegal and providing up to one year in prison and a fine up to $1,000 for violation.

On recto: typewritten title and date.
On verso: Associated Press stamp, date stamp and library label affixed.

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
• Injustice
• Racial Discrimination

• Image Dimensions: 6 13/16 x 9 1/2 in. (17.3 x 24.13 cm) Measured by Cornejo-Reynoso, Aitzin
• Sheet Dimensions: 8 1/16 x 10 in. (20.48 x 25.4 cm) Measured by Cornejo-Reynoso, Aitzin