Ready At Capitol: One soldier with a machine gun and another with out-thrust rifle take up guard posts late today on the Senate steps of the Capitol. They were part of federal troops ordered into the nation's capital by President Johnson. The Flag is at half staff in tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated in Memphis.

The Washington DC Riots of 1968 spanned four days following the assassination of Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968. The King assassination riots affected at least 110 U.S. cities; Washington, along with Chicago and Baltimore, were among the most heavily affected.

On recto: typewritten title and date.
On verso: manuscript title, date and newspaper 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:

• Assassinations
• Civil Rights Movements
• Flags
• Honors
• Injustice
• Lyndon Johnson
• Machine Guns
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Mourning
• Racial Discrimination
• Soldiers
• United States Capitol
• Washington DC
• Washington DC Riots of 1968

• Image Dimensions: 6 9/16 x 9 1/16 in. (16.67 x 23.02 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen
• Sheet Dimensions: 8 x 9 15/16 in. (20.32 x 25.24 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen