A Molotov cocktail thrown through the front window of a Tampa, Florida food market set fire to merchandise and caused police to rush to the scene. Firemen quickly extinguished the blaze. It was one of numerous fires that broke out in the black sections of Tampa, which experienced its second straight night of rioting.

Riots spread through Tampa, Florida in 1967 after police officers killed 19-year-old Martin Chambers, an unarmed black teen. On June 11, 1967, police shot Chambers in the back, killing him and setting off three days of riots. Police had been pursuing Chambers that day because he and two other young black men were suspected of robbing a local photo supply store.

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:

• 1967 Tampa Riots
• Civil Rights Movements
• Fires
• Grocery Stores
• Injustice
• Martin Chambers
• Molotov cocktails
• Molotov Cocktails
• Police
• Police shootings
• Racial Discrimination
• Tampa

• Image Dimensions: 7 1/16 x 8 5/8 in. (17.94 x 21.91 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen
• Sheet Dimensions: 7 15/16 x 9 3/16 in. (20.16 x 23.34 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen