While people like Martin Luther King, Jr. brought national attention to the civil rights movement, many of the gains made in the 1960s and beyond were built upon a foundation of activism at the local level. Civil rights activists like Rev. Curtis Harris (1924-) were involved in national organizations, but were even more important for putting national-level ideas into practice in their local communities. Over the course of a fifty-year career, Rev. Harris has served his community of Hopewell, Virginia, not only as a civil rights activist, but also as political official and religious leader.
Images of the exhibit are available from Swem Library on Flickr.
Curator: Matt Anthony, Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of American Studies and 2014-2015 Archives Apprentice; Exhibit design and installation: Jennie Davy, Burger Archives Specialist, with assistance from Kelly Manno, Undergraduate Student Assistant.