Former Circuit Judge George C. Wallace enters the federal building in Montgomery, Alabama with his wife, Lurleen. He went on trial for criminal contempt of the U.S. Middle District Court. Wallace was cited for contempt by an old college classmate after he repeatedly refused to produce registration records for the federal Civil Rights Commission.

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 Commission
• Civil Rights Movements
• Contempt
• Federal Buildings
• George Wallace
• Injustice
• Lurleen Wallace
• Montgomery
• Racial Discrimination
• Registration forms
• Segregationists
• Spouses
• Trials
• U.S. District Courts

• Image Dimensions: 8 3/4 x 6 13/16 in. (22.23 x 17.3 cm) Measured by Cornejo-Reynoso, Aitzin
• Sheet Dimensions: 9 1/8 x 7 in. (23.18 x 17.78 cm) Measured by Cornejo-Reynoso, Aitzin