Marching In Memory: The Reverend Ralph David Abernathy, head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, lower right, leads a memorial march through downtown Memphis, Tennessee in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was killed one year ago. In front row with Abernathy is Jerry Wurf, at left, President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Ralph Abernathy (1926-1990) was a Baptist minister who, with Martin Luther King, Jr., organized the historic Montgomery Bus Boycotts. Abernathy co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was a major Civil Rights figure, serving as close adviser to King and later assuming SCLC Presidency.

Jerome "Jerry" Wurf (1919-1981) was a U.S. labor leader and President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees from 1964 to 1981. Wurf was a friend of Martin Luther King, Jr., and was arrested multiple times for his activism, notably during the Memphis Sanitation Strike.

Associated Press ID #6904041115

On recto: typewritten title and date.
On verso: date 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:

• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
• Anniversaries
• Assassinations
• Civil Rights Movements
• Death
• Hate
• Hate crimes
• Injustice
• Jerry Wurf
• Marches
• Memorial services
• Memphis
• Racial Discrimination
• Reverend Ralph Abernathy
• Reverend Ralph Abernathy
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference

• Image Dimensions: 9 78 x 7 1/16 in. (17.94 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen
• Sheet Dimensions: 10 5/16 x 8 in. (26.19 x 20.32 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen