Breach of Peace : Portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom Riders - Hardcover

Eric Etheridge

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 097774339X ISBN 13: 9780977743391

Publisher: ATLAS & CO, 2008

Synopsis

In the spring and summer of 1961, several hundred Americans - black and white, male and female - converged on Jackson, Mississippi, to challenge the state segregation laws. The Freedom Riders, as they came to be known, were determined to open up the South to civil rights. Over 300 were arrested and convicted of """"breaching of the peace"""". The name, mug shot and other personal details of each arrested Freedom Rider were duly recorded and saved. Collected here is a richly illustrated book book featuring contemporary photos and interviews alongside the mug shots.

About this title

Review:

"The mug shots turn out to be a remarkable exercise in folk portraiture. Seeing them side by side with Etheridge's terrific portraits of the same men and women forty-five or more years later exerts a fascination reminiscent of Michael Apted's 'Up' film series. The interview excerpts bring to life the experience these people shared--not just the rides, the arrests, and the beatings but also, in many cases, the weeks or months they spent in jail afterward, often in the fearful confines of the infamous Parchman prison farm. We learn what they were doing before the rides and what they have done since."
--Hendrik Hertzberg in the New Yorker

About the Author:

Eric Etheridge has worked as an editor for magazines such as Rolling Stone, Seven Days, the New York Observer, and Harper's. The Freedom Rider portraits and mug shots have been widely exhibited. Sixteen were included in the civil rights photography show Road to Freedom, which originated at the High Museum in Atlanta and traveled to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, the Field in Chicago, and other venues.

About this edition

• Publisher: ATLAS & CO
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 097774339X
• ISBN 13: 9780977743391
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224