Dr. King Shot: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot today in Memphis, Tennessee in a downtown hotel. He was reported to be in a Memphis hospital. There was no word on his condition. This is a file photo.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement from 1954 until his assassination in 1968.

On verso: typewritten title and date, date stamps and newspaper captions with date stamps 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:

• Assassinations
• Civil Rights Movements
• Death
• Hate
• Hate crimes
• Hospitals
• Injustice
• James Earl Ray
• Martin Luther King Family
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Memphis
• Racial Discrimination
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference

• Overall Dimensions: 6 13/16 x 5 5/16 in. (17.3 x 13.49 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen