Great Wall Institute: The Process of the Great Wall of Los AngelesMain MenuResearch of the DecadesResearch1960s Illustration DevelopmentIllustration DevelopmentPlaylists of the DecadesPlaylistssparcinla.org185fc5b2219f38c7b63f42d87efaf997127ba4fcGreat Wall Institute - Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC)
Tom Hayden provided the visual metaphor for the Generation on Fire segment. In an interview with Judy Baca conducted at SPARC, Hayden described the uniqueness of the generation. The 1960s was the first time in history, according to Hayden, in which an entire generation were self-described revolutionaries; they were a generation on fire. Judy recalls Hayden describing that the way many people got engaged in activism was a question of who they fell in love with.
Hayden’s metaphor inspired the imagery and title for the segment. In the background of this segment notable Freedom Riders–Joan Mullholland, Catherine Burks-Brooks, Jean Thompson, Alex Weiss, Robert and Helen Singleton, Lula Mae White, and Hank Thomas, Kwame Ture (Stokley Carmichael), James Farmer, and John Lewis–are depicted on a Greyhound bus. In the foreground, a line of youth with fire emanating from their heart centers hold hands as firemen try to extinguish their fire. These young people are linked across race and class carrying the belief that they could change the world. That is what the Generation on Fire is all about.
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1media/Firemen turn fire hoses on demonstrators, Birmingham, Alabama, 1963_thumb.jpeg2022-08-16T00:02:08+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a491963 Birmingham "Demonstration: Dogs and Hoses Repulse Negroes at Birmingham"2Civil Rights Movement: Firemen turn hoses on demonstrators, Birmingham, Alabama - IRMINGHAM, Ala., May 3 -- Fire hoses and police dogs were used here today to disperse Negro students protesting racial segregation. Three students were reported to have been bitten and to have required hospital treatment. Two firemen and a news photographer were injured by bricks and broken bottles thrown from the top of a Negro office building near the major encounter, at 17th Street and Fifth Avenue North. [In Washington, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy warned that ``increasing turmoil'' would be made inevitable by a refusal to grant equal rights to Negroes, United Press International reported. But he questioned the timing of the demonstrations.] Marchers Are Dispersed This was the second day of major demonstrations by the students here. Yesterday, more than 900 students were sent out from the Negro section in groups of 10 to 50. Some succeeded in reaching City Hall and several downtown corners. More than 700 were arrested. Today, with the dogs and fire hoses, the police were largely successful in dispersing the student marchers before they left the Negro section. Fewer than 500 were able to leave the 16th Street Baptist Church before the police sealed its doors. Only two groups won their way through the police lines. One group of 20 reached City Hall, where they were arrested. Another group of 10 got as far as the bus depot on 19th Street, where they also were taken into custody. In all, more than 250 persons were reported arrested today. The demonstrators today appeared to be older than those who marched yesterday. They appeared to be mostly high school and college students. All the demonstrations were held between 1 and 3 P.M. They followed by less than three hours a declaration by the two principal leaders of the month-old direct action campaign against segregation here. The leaders said that the demonstrations would continue with increasing intensity until there were both ``promise and action'' from the city authorities and white merchants to start to end segregation. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Atlanta, Ga., and the Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, head of the local affiliate, the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, made the announcement. They told the news conference that they had no intention of relaxing the pressure without such action. ``We are ready to negotiate,'' Dr. King said. ``But we intend to negotiate from strength. If the white power structure of this city will meet some of our minimum demands, then we will consider calling off the demonstrations, but we want promises, plus action.'' Both said there was no lack of recruits from among the Negro community of 140,000 persons here. If there ever was any division within it over the timing of the campaign, it now has disappeared, they declared.media/Firemen turn fire hoses on demonstrators, Birmingham, Alabama, 1963.jpegplain2022-08-16T00:05:10+00:001963Firemen turn fire hoses on demonstrators in Birmingham,Ala. Photo by Charles Moore, 1963. (Courtesy of Monroe Gallery of Photography) jjadrnak@abqjournal.com Wed Jun 24 11:47:16 -0600 2015 1435168035 FILENAME: 194424.jpgAlbuquerque JournalAlbuquerque JournalGina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49
1media/Birmingham Demonstration_thumb.jpg2022-07-13T00:42:28+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a491963 Birmingham Campaign1Police dogs, held by officers, jump at a man with torn trousers during a non-violent demonstration, Birmingham, Alabama, May 3, 1963.media/Birmingham Demonstration.jpgplain2022-07-13T00:42:28+00:001963Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49
1media/Screen Shot 2022-07-29 at 3.20.21 PM_thumb.png2022-07-29T22:24:47+00:00Isa Lovelace9b0e63463955cb91e1285177f7061770c00ce6e81963 A police officer in Birmingham, Alabama, frisks a demonstrator after an attempted sit-in1A police officer in Birmingham, Alabama, frisks a demonstrator after an attempted sit-in on April 15, 1963media/Screen Shot 2022-07-29 at 3.20.21 PM.pngplain2022-07-29T22:24:47+00:00#police frisking, #Demonstrator, #lunch counter sit-ins1963Isa Lovelace9b0e63463955cb91e1285177f7061770c00ce6e8
1media/Freedom Riders_thumb.jpeg2022-07-14T19:52:14+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a491960s Freedom Riders Movement2Freedom Riders on a Greyhound bus sponsored by the Congress Of Racial Equality (CORE), sit on the ground outside the bus after it was set afire by a group of whites who met the Black and white group on arrival here, Anniston, Ala., May 14, 1961. Underwood Archivesmedia/Freedom Riders.jpegplain2023-10-16T20:49:14+00:00May 14, 1961Black LiberationGina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49
1media/141215-freedom-riders-mlk-20-1024x698_thumb.jpg2022-07-29T23:05:14+00:00Isa Lovelace9b0e63463955cb91e1285177f7061770c00ce6e81961 First Freedom Rides from Washington DC to Alabama6Seven Black and six white freedom riders make the first Freedom Rides for the desegregation of bus and train facilities and stationsmedia/141215-freedom-riders-mlk-20-1024x698.jpgplain2023-10-16T15:59:14+00:00May 4, 1961Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/ShutterstockGina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49
1media/Freedom Riders peered from bus_thumb.jpeg2022-07-14T20:24:51+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a491961 Freedom Riders Peer out of bus windows - Montgomery to Mississippi1Freedom riders peered from bus windows during a stop. Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstockmedia/Freedom Riders peered from bus.jpegplain2022-07-14T20:24:51+00:00Peering out of window, faces out of bus windows1961Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49
1media/Freedom Riders Rescued from First Baptist Church_thumb.jpeg2022-07-14T20:29:02+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a491961 Freedom riders rescued from First Baptist Church2Freedom riders rescued from First Baptist Church (including future U.S. Rep. John Lewis, with bandaged head) relaxed at a safe house in Montgomery, Ala. Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstockmedia/Freedom Riders Rescued from First Baptist Church.jpegplain2022-07-14T20:29:46+00:00#John Lewis, #bandaged head, #rescue from First Baptist Church #freedom riders1961Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49
1media/Freedom Riders inside baptist church_thumb.jpeg2022-07-14T20:22:18+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a491961 Freedom Riders Rest in Church as mob surrounds1Freedom riders tried to rest at the Rev. Ralph Abernathy’s First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., as a white mob gathered outside. Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstockmedia/Freedom Riders inside baptist church.jpegplain2022-07-14T20:22:18+00:00#freedomriders, #baptistchurch, #sleeping mothers and children1961Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49
1media/Freedom Riders from Montgomery to Jackson _thumb.jpeg2022-07-14T20:15:56+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a491961 From Montgomery, Alabama to Jackson, Mississippi - Freedom Riders put their lives on the line for dignity and equal rights1The Life Magazine Collection - National Guard escorts Freedom Riders on bus on way from Montgomery, Alabama to Jackson, Mississippi.media/Freedom Riders from Montgomery to Jackson .jpegplain2022-07-14T20:15:56+00:00#freedomriders, #national guard, #bus1961Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49
1media/Freedom Riders Pray_thumb.jpeg2022-07-14T20:38:00+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a491961 Safe House in Alabama - Freedom Riders Pray after being rescued1At a safe house in Montgomery, Ala., freedom riders prayed after being rescued from First Baptist Church. Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstockmedia/Freedom Riders Pray.jpegplain2022-07-14T20:38:00+00:00#freedomriders, #baptistchurch, #praying, #safehouse1961Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49
1media/Screen Shot 2023-03-21 at 4.08.14 PM_thumb.png2023-03-21T23:09:05+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a491961 The Freedom Rides1The freedom rides began in 1961 in response to the refusal of southern states to enforce two Supreme Court rulings (Morgan v. Virginia and Boynton v. Virginia) both of which demanded the desegregation of interstate bus travel. Over time, the freedom rides became one of the largest student protests in American history, but it all started with one bus.media/Screen Shot 2023-03-21 at 4.08.14 PM.pngplain2023-03-21T23:09:05+00:001961Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49
1media/Screen Shot 2023-03-21 at 4.03.55 PM_thumb.png2023-03-21T23:06:10+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49Freedom Summer1Singing We Shall Overcome, this group of Freedom Summer volunteers begins its journey from Oxford, Ohio to Mississippi. Despite the dangers, more than 1,000 college students volunteered to canvass, teach and establish community centers.Photo: Ted Polumbaum, Newseum Collection - Photographer Herbert Randall no longer has the nightmares that haunted his sleep after a harrowing incident while documenting the 1964 civil rights initiative known as Freedom Summer. Fifty years later, Richard Momeyer believes there is still much to learn from the hundreds of volunteers — many of them white college students — who trained in Oxford before heading south to register black voters and set up freedom schools and community centers. An estimated 800 volunteers went through orientation training June 14-27 of that year at the Western College for Women, which is now part of Miami University's Western campus. Three civil rights activists — Michael Schwerner, 24, James Chaney, 21, and Andrew Goodman, 20 — were murdered in Mississippi soon after leaving Oxford. Their deaths stunned the nation and sparked a major federal investigation. It was code-named "MIBURN" for Mississippi Burning after their charred station wagon was found on June 23.media/Screen Shot 2023-03-21 at 4.03.55 PM.pngplain2023-03-21T23:06:10+00:001960sGina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49
1media/mob-attacks-bus-Alabama-631_thumb.jpeg2021-11-29T22:18:54+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49Mob attacks Freedom Riders Bus (Alabama)11961media/mob-attacks-bus-Alabama-631.jpegplain2021-11-29T22:18:54+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49