Black Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad has denied any connection with the slaying of Malcolm X. Speaking at a press conference in Chicago Monday, Elijah said, "Malcolm died according to his own preaching."

Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole; October 7, 1897 – February 25, 1975) was a black religious leader who led the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1934 until his death in 1975. He was a mentor to Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan and Muhammad Ali, as well as his own son, Warith Deen Mohammed.

Donated to the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College by Michael Mattis and Judy Hochberg on June 2, 2021.

On recto: manuscript title.

On verso: United Press International stamp, date stamps, newspaper stamps and newspaper caption affixed.

Sheet: 9 15/16 x 8 1/16

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:

• Assassinations
• Black Muslims
• Chicago
• Civil Rights Movements
• Death
• Discrimination
• Honorable Elijah Muhammad
• Injustice
• Malcolm X
• Male Portraits
• Nation of Islam
• Press Conferences

• Image Dimensions: 9 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. (24.13 x 16.51 cm)