Kiss for Mrs. King: Actor Billy Dee Williams kisses Mrs. Coretta King on the hand following a performance of "I Have a Dream" at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC. Williams played Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the production.

Coretta Scott King (1927-2006) was an American author, activist and Civil Rights leader. She was the wife of Martin Luther King, Jr., and she helped lead the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. She took part in the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 and worked to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

On recto: typewritten title and date.
On verso: newspaper caption with date stamp 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:

• Billy Dee Williams
• Billy Dee Williams
• Civil Rights Movements
• Coretta Scott King
• Coretta Scott King
• Fords Theater
• I Have a Dream
• Injustice
• Martin Luther King Family
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Racial Discrimination
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference
• Washington DC
• Widows

• Image Dimensions: 9 1/4 x 6 3/4 in. (23.5 x 17.15 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen
• Sheet Dimensions: 9 5/8 x 8 in. (24.45 x 20.32 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen