Civil Rights Films

From California to Mississippi

Harvey Richards used his photography to provide important support to civil right activists during the 1960s in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the South. He filmed the historic march down Market Street in San Francisco in 1963 to support the Freedom Movement in Birmingham, Alabama (Freedom March). And when protesters marched and sat-in against discriminatory hiring practices in the Bay Area, Richards was there (Decision in the Streets).

In 1963 and again in the spring of 1964, Richards made two trips into rural Mississippi to help voter registration activities of SNCC (We’ll Never Turn Back and Dream Deferred). The making of these films is discussed in Primary Source Documentaries: The Making of We’ll Never Turn Back (1963) and Dream Deferred (1964) (PDF).

Civil rights films:

Photographs

Richards’ still photography in the South began during his 1959 trip through the region (see "Mississippi 1959"). He also shot still photos during his two film projects in 1963 and 1964 (see "Civil Rights Activists") and on many other occasions in the San Francsico Bay Area during local civil rights protests of that era.


Mel's Drive In Protest Story from Decision in the Streets

"The Sheraton Palace Sit-in Story 1964" from Decision in the Streets

Video and photos © Paul Richards

Cover of Critical Focus
Critical Focus:
The Black and White
Photographs of
Harvey Wilson Richards

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