Comedian Dick Gregory, his wife Lillian beside him, announces that he has been invited to North Vietnam to discuss entertainment of American prisoners of war during the Christmas holidays. He said that on December 5 he will fly to London and on to Paris, where he will depart for Hanoi. Gregory's wife and two oldest daughters will go too. Gregory does not have State Department approval to make the trip, Olympia, Washington.

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.

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

• Christmas
• Civil Rights Movements
• Dick Gregory
• Dick Gregory
• Entertainment Events
• Hanoi
• Injustice
• Lillian Gregory
• Olympia
• Portraits
• Prisoners of War
• Racial Discrimination
• Spouses

• Image Dimensions: 8 5/16 x 10 1/4 in. (21.11 x 26.04 cm) Measured by Cornejo-Reynoso, Aitzin
• Sheet Dimensions: 8 5/8 x 11 in. (21.91 x 27.94 cm) Measured by Cornejo-Reynoso, Aitzin