Carol Smith reads a statement April 30 from the jailed Black Panthers calling for a peaceful May Day weekend. Smith is the sister of two of the defendants facing trial in New Haven. Elbert "Big Man" Howard (center) and Panther Chief of Staff David Hilliard conducted the news conference, New Haven, Connecticut.

Elbert Howard (January 5, 1938 – July 23, 2018), better known as Big Man, was an American Civil Rights activist and author. He was one of the founding members of the Black Panther Party.

David Hilliard (1942 - present) was the Chief of Staff of the Black Panther Party. He is the founder of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation.

On verso: United Press International stamp, date stamp, and typewritten label with title and date affixed.

Donated to the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College by Eric Alterman on December 16, 2021.

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:

• Black Panthers
• Carol Smith
• Civil Rights Movements
• David Hilliard
• Elbert Howard
• Imprisonment
• Injustice
• Male Portraits
• May Day
• New Haven
• Press Conferences
• Racial Discrimination
• Trials

• Overall Dimensions: 6 3/16 x 8 13/16 in. (15.72 x 22.38 cm)