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Foot Soldier of Birmingham - Distinguishing Legend from Fact - Telling the untold story

Album Description

 Questions:

  • Are statues accurate historical representations? 
  • What bias do artists show in recreations of historical events?
  • How can artistic historical representations help us better understand historical context? 
  • What story does the truth tell and what story does the artistic representation tell? Does it matter if they are different? 

(Feel free to add any other images that might be helpful)

Sculpture dedicated to the Foot Soldiers of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement. Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham, Alabama

Reference note

Contributor Names: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer
Created / Published: 2010 March 3.
Subject Headings: -  United States--Alabama--Birmingham
-  Kelly Ingram Park
-  Civil rights
-  America
Notes: -  Kelly Ingram Park (formerly West Park) was a staging ground for civil rights demonstrations in the 1960s. It is located adjacent to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the 16th Street Baptist Church.
-  Title, date, subject note, and keywords provided by the photographer.
-  Credit line: The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  Gift; George F. Landegger; 2010; (DLC/PP-2010:090).
-  Forms part of: George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America Project in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: highsm 05111 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/highsm.05111

Sculpture dedicated to the Foot Soldiers of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement. Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham, Alabama

Reference note

Contributor Names: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer
Created / Published: 2010 February 28.
Subject Headings: -  United States--Alabama--Birmingham
-  Kelly Ingram Civil Rights Park
-  Sculpture
-  Civil rights
-  America
Genre: Digital photographs--Color--2000-2010
Notes: -  Kelly Ingram Park (formerly West Park) was a staging ground for civil rights demonstrations in the 1960s. It is located adjacent to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the 16th Street Baptist Church.
-  Title, date, subject note, and keywords provided by the photographer.
-  Credit line: The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
-  Gift; George F. Landegger; 2010; (DLC/PP-2010:090).
-  Forms part of: George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America Project in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive.
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id: highsm 05100 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/highsm.05100

The actual photograph that the Foot Soldier of Birmingham statue was based off of.

Teaching Notes

Actual photograph

Revisionist History Podcast

Teaching Notes

Revisionist History Podcast "The Foot Soldier of Birmingham" [34 min] with Malcolm Gladwell

Includes interview with the artist Ronald McDowell

Birmingham, 1963. The image of a police dog viciously attacking a young black protester shocks the nation. The picture, taken in the midst of one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous marches, might be the most iconic photograph of the civil rights movement. But few have ever bothered to ask the people in the famous photograph what they think happened that day. It’s more complicated than it looks.

Click the reference link to listen to the episode.

Click here to read the transcript.