id: 291578 accession number: 2016.289 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2016.289 updated: 2023-08-24 01:17:33.484000 March on Washington, Washington DC, 1963. Leonard Freed (American, 1929–2006). Gelatin silver print; image: 16 x 23.9 cm (6 5/16 x 9 7/16 in.); paper: 20.3 x 25.2 cm (8 x 9 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg 2016.289 © Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos title: March on Washington, Washington DC title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1963 creation date earliest: 1963 creation date latest: 1963 current location: creditline: Gift of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg copyright: © Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos --- culture: America, 20th century technique: gelatin silver print department: Photography collection: PH - American 1951-Present type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Leonard Freed (American, 1929–2006) - artist Born in Brooklyn to Jewish, working-class parents of Eastern European descent, Leonard Freed (1929–2006) went to Europe to become a painter but instead discovered photography. After studying the medium in New York City, he worked as a documentary photographer and photojournalist in Europe. In 1972 he joined Magnum, the celebrated collaborative photo agency. Freed’s photographs in this exhibition are from Black in White America, a series inspired by an experience he had while covering the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. As he photographed an African American soldier guarding the border, it struck Freed that this man was risking his life to defend a country that limited his own rights. Freed returned to New York to undertake a multiyear exploration of African American life. Freed began shooting around New York, and then traveled extensively throughout the South. He spent time in communities getting to know his subjects, and kept a journal recording his impressions and their stories and words. During these years, he also covered Martin Luther King Jr. and numerous civil rights events, but when Freed published Black in White America in 1968, the book focused instead on the fabric of daily life. As a photojournalist, Freed was an observer rather than a participant, but not an impartial one. He believed that “photography is about who you are. It’s the seeking of truth in relation to yourself.” --- measurements: Image: 16 x 23.9 cm (6 5/16 x 9 7/16 in.); Paper: 20.3 x 25.2 cm (8 x 9 15/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Numerous inscriptions and stamps which have been obscured by adhesive labels are located on the verso of the photograph. Imprinted in black type on white adhesive label on verso: “LFBWA-132.A 2 7500 [written in pencil]/[bar code] S00093495_d FRL1963002 W00003/38 NYC26085/© Leonard Freed/Magnum Photos/USA. March on Washington 1963/USA. Washington, D.C. August 28, 1963. The March on Washington/In the summer of 1963, a single event captured the attention of the United States and the world: the March on Washington. More than 250,/000 people came to the nation’s capital to demand equality for blacks and to urge Congress to pass pending civil rights legislation. More/than 2,000 “freedom busses” and thirty “freedom trains” converged in Washington, bringing more than a quarter million marchers, over 60,/000 of them white. The march was the largest demonstration of its kind in the history of the United States./No photograph or digital file may be reproduced, cropped or modified (digitally or otherwise) and its caption may not be altered without prior written/agreement from Magnum or a Magnum representative.” Written in black ink on white adhesive label on verso: “Civil Rights: March on/Washington, D.C. 1963” Written in pencil on verso: “67476” Imprinted in black type on white adhesive label on verso: “[bar code]/FRL63002W3/38 CIV 14FRL015+001/Washington, DC. August 28, 1963. Marchers with signs at the March on Washington for jobs and racial equality.” Stamped in blue ink on verso: “59687” Written in black ink on orange adhesive dot on verso: “AP5949” Imprinted in black type on white adhesive label on verso: “[partially obscured by second layer of adhesive label] 84899” Imprinted in black type on white adhesive label on verso: “CONS. # 87153/C. ZEISSE” Written in pencil on verso: “25402” Written in pencil on verso: “Leonard Freed (signed)” Written in black ink on verso: “61275” Stamped in black ink on verso: “VINTAGE PRINT” Stamped in black ink on verso: “© Leonard Freed-Magnum” Written in pencil on verso: “10261” Written in pencil on verso: “69918” Written in pencil on verso: “1963 Washington, DC, USA Book: Black in White America” Imprinted in black type on white adhesive label on verso: “NOTICE/Photographs must be credited to the photographer/and MAGNUM PHOTOS. Photographs may not be/cropped or altered in any way without prior written/approval by MAGNUM PHOTOS./VIOLATION OF THESE POLICIES WILL RESULT IT/FINES AT A MINIMUM of 100% OF THE USAGE FEE.” translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Black in America: Louis Draper and Leonard Freed opening date: 2017-02-26T05:00:00 Black in America: Louis Draper and Leonard Freed. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 26-July 30, 2017). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Leonard Freed (the artist) [1929-2006] date: footnotes: citations: (Magnum Photos, New York, NY) date: footnotes: citations: Estate of Leonard Freed, Garrison, NY date: footnotes: citations: Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg, Scarsdale, NY date: ?-2016 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: December 5, 2016 footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: Freed covered the August 28, 1963, March on Washington during which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. “More than 250,000 people came to the nation’s capital to demand equality for blacks and to urge Congress to pass pending civil rights legislation. . . . The march was the largest demonstration of its kind in the history of the United States.” Almost a year later, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination in public places and in employment practices. wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES