[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 52 (Friday, May 1, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E735]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     TRIBUTE TO MR. ERNEST WITHERS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. HAROLD E. FORD, JR.

                              of tennesse

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 30, 1998

  Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Ernest C. Withers, 
Sr. as an activist who occupies a significant place in the annals of 
the Civil Rights Movement and the history of Memphis, Tennessee.
  As a native Memphian, Mr. Withers is respected throughout the 
community for his contributions toward the establishment and 
advancement of equality. As a veteran of World War II, he returned to 
Memphis to become one of the nine African-American men chosen as the 
first black police officers for the city in 1948. After several years, 
he left this job to embark full time in a profession that he felt could 
more effectively bolster social change in Memphis and the nation.
  Mr. Ernest Withers is best known for his profession and remarkable 
career as one of the nation's premier photo journalists. As a 
photographer, he photographed and chronicled the history-making people 
and events of the Civil Rights Movement of the Sixties and focused the 
attention of the nation on this momentous era of human history. The 
powerful images that he captured have been widely showcased in national 
publications including Life, Newsweek, and Time. The dynamic 
individuals of the time that he visually captured included Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, Bayard Rustin, Rosa Parks, and 
Whitney Young.
  Subsequent to the movement, Mr. Withers remained prolific, capturing 
memorable events and people including President Richard Nixon, Jackie 
Robinson, Elvis Presley and B. B. King on film. In conjunction with his 
son, the late State Representative Teddy Withers, Mr. Ernest Withers 
made several trips to Africa in efforts to further establish Memphis as 
an international hub for trade. His work as a social documentalist has 
been recognized and featured by many museums and institutions including 
the Massachusetts College of Art, the Atlanta High Museum of Art, 
Vanderbilt University, and the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, 
Tennessee. Now in his seventies, Mr. Ernest Withers remains active, 
working out of his own studio in Memphis where he continues to 
captivate us with his innovative style and visual perspectives.
  For his contributions and commitment to community, Mr. Speaker, I 
would ask you and my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to 
join with me in honoring this dynamic participant in and recorder of 
history, Mr. Ernest C. Withers, Sr.

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