Untitled (Coretta Scott King at her husband Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s public funeral service at Morehouse College, Atlanta, April 9, 1968)

Harry Benson, Scottish and American, born 1929

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negative 1968; print 2014

Archival pigment print

5/35

Image: 15 × 20 in. (38.1 × 50.8 cm)

Sheet: 17 × 22 in. (43.2 × 55.9 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased in memory of Edward A. Hansen, Member of the Board of the Hopkins Center and Hood Museum of Art, through a gift from his wife, Julia, his children, Victoria, Class of 1988 and Christopher, Class of 1985

2014.84.1

Geography

Place Made: United States, North America

Period

20th century

Object Name

Photograph

Research Area

Photograph

Not on view

Inscriptions

Titled, numbered, and signed, beneath image, in black ink: Mrs. Martin Luther King, SR. [sic], Atlanta 1968 5/35 Harry Benson

Label

Both taken at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Atlanta funeral, these two photographs depict different facets of grief. In the first, his wife, Coretta Scott King, appears tormented by her loss as she is surrounded by people trying to console her. In the second, Robert F. Kennedy walks through the funeral procession, encircled by a crowd of mourners holding hands. While Coretta King is individually mourning the loss of her husband, the crowd is collectively suffering the loss of a beloved leader. Although the photos express distinct types of grief, both convey how grief can bring us together.

From the 2022 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 109, Nothing Gold Can Stay, curated by Amy Zaretsky '23, Conroy Intern

Course History

GEOG 72.01/AAAS 67.50/WGSS 66.09, Black Consciousness Black Feminism, Abby Neely, Spring 2022

Exhibition History

A Space for Dialogue 109, Nothing Gold Can Stay, Amy Zarestky, Class of 2023, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 29 October - 23 December 2022

Art of the Civil Rights Movement, Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 23, 2014-March 8, 2015.

Provenance

The artist (Harry Benson Ltd., New York, New York); sold to the present collection, 2014.

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