Haverford College will present an exhibit of documentary photography by Sue [Lorenzi] Sojourner,“The Some People of That Place: 1960s Holmes Co. Mississippi—The Local People and Their Civil Rights Movement,” from February 1 through 28, 2006.
Haverford College will present an exhibit of documentary photography by Sue [Lorenzi] Sojourner,“The Some People of That Place: 1960s Holmes Co. Mississippi—The Local People and Their Civil Rights Movement,” from February 1 through 28, 2006. All photographs were taken in Holmes County, Mississippi, in 1968-69, five years after the first local people began organizing and attending Freedom Meetings and started making voter registration attempts. The exhibit, which also includes documents and explanatory texts, will be open to the public daily from noon-5 p.m. in rooms 102 and 106 in Stokes Hall. The show is sponsored by Haverford's John B. Hurford '60 Humanities Center and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
Sue [Lorenzi] Sojourner and her late husband Henry Lorenzi lived and worked for five years (1964-69) as civil rights workers in Holmes—they were called“white outside agitators” by the local whites. While they mostly worked to help local leaders to build a grassroots organization for voter registration, political education, and running for public office, Sue [Lorenzi] Sojourner also realized the importance of documenting that historic time with camera, pen, and tape recorder. Thirty years later, she assembled“The Some People” exhibition for the Tweed Museum of Art at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Since 1999, the show has grown and traveled to colleges, universities, community centers, and historical and philanthropic institutions in the South, Midwest, and East. She is working on a book about the experience as well.
The exhibit opens on Wednesday, February 1, with a reception, first floor, Stokes Hall, Haverford College, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Guest speakers include photographer, curator, and activist Sue [Lorenzi] Sojourner of Duluth, Minn., and Sala Udin, an activist and former project director in Holmes (1965-66), and former city councilman in Pittsburgh, Pa. (1995-2005).
The public is also invited to two other events in conjunction with“The Some People of That Place” show:
• On Thursday, February 9, a reception from 5:30-6:45 p.m. in Stokes followed by a panel discussion:“Civil Rights: Then & Now,” featuring Ralph Boyd '79, former Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Civil Rights; Zelma Williams Croom, Holmes County native and activist; and Juan Williams '76, senior correspondent for National Public Radio and a political analyst for Fox News, 7 p.m. Founders Great Hall.
• On Thursday, February 23, Philadelphia filmmaker Louis Massiah will present a screening of his documentary about African American activist and intellectual Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, W.E.B. Du Bois—A Biography in Four Voices, starting at 6 p.m. in Haverford's Multicultural Center, Room 106, Stokes Hall. This event has been scheduled to celebrate Dr. DuBois' 138th birthday.
