Ernest C. Withers
First Desegregated Bus Ride. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy on first desegrated bus. Montgomery, Alabama.

First Desegregated Bus Ride. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy on first desegrated bus. Montgomery, Alabama.

© Withers Family Trust

First Desegregated Bus Ride. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy on first desegrated bus. Montgomery, Alabama.
First Desegregated Bus Ride. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy on first desegrated bus. Montgomery, Alabama.
ArtistAmerican, 1922–2007
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • First Desegregated Bus Ride. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy on first desegrated bus. Montgomery, Alabama.
  • from the portfolio: I Am A Man, Photographs by Ernest C. Withers, Panoptican Press, 1994
DateDecember 1956, printed 1994
Place depictedMontgomery, Alabama, United States
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 14 7/8 × 17 15/16 in. (37.8 × 45.6 cm)
 Sheet: 15 7/8 × 19 3/4 in. (40.3 × 50.2 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the African American Art Advisory Association
Object number98.225.2
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Special Collections
Object Type
Provenance[Panopticon Gallery, Rockland, Massachusetts]; purchased by MFAH, 1998.
Exhibition History"African-American Advisory Association (Five-A)" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 2 to April 7, 2003.

"African-American Art in the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston", The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 22, 2004 - May 9, 2004.

"Houston Collects: African American Art," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Upper Brown Pavilion, July 31-October 26, 2008.

"Statements: African American Art from the Museum's Collection," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Millennium Gallery, January 24–September 25, 2016.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscription: The photograph is inscribed in pencil, verso, lower edge: "#9/35 I Am A Man Portfolio, Panopticon Press 1994 #62".
The photograph is signed in pencil, verso, lower right.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Martin Luther King Funeral Procession. Funeral procession for Dr. Martin Luther King on Auburn Ave. after leaving King's church. Atlanta, Georgia.
Ernest C. Withers
Martin Luther King Funeral Procession. Funeral procession for Dr. Martin Luther King on Auburn Ave. after leaving King's church. Atlanta, Georgia.
April 12, 1968, printed 1994
Gelatin silver print
98.225.8
Dr. Martin Luther King is Confronted. Dr. King is stopped by police at Medgar Ever's Funeral. Jackson, Mississippi.
Ernest C. Withers
Dr. Martin Luther King is Confronted. Dr. King is stopped by police at Medgar Ever's Funeral. Jackson, Mississippi.
June 1963, printed 1994
Gelatin silver print
98.225.6
Marchers on Main Street. Marchers on Main Street in Memphis after the assassination of Dr. King. Memphis, Tennessee.
Ernest C. Withers
Marchers on Main Street. Marchers on Main Street in Memphis after the assassination of Dr. King. Memphis, Tennessee.
1968, printed 1994
Gelatin silver print
98.225.9
Little Rock Nine. The "Little Rock Nine's" first day of school. Little Rock, Arkansas.
Ernest C. Withers
Little Rock Nine. The "Little Rock Nine's" first day of school. Little Rock, Arkansas.
1957, printed 1994
Gelatin silver print
98.225.5
Image non disponible pour Courthouse. Civil Rights lawyers Odell Horton, A.W. Willis, Benjamin Hooks, Russell Sugarmon and J.F. Estes at Memphis Police Court. Memphis, Tennessee.
Ernest C. Withers
Courthouse. Civil Rights lawyers Odell Horton, A.W. Willis, Benjamin Hooks, Russell Sugarmon and J.F. Estes at Memphis Police Court. Memphis, Tennessee.
1960, printed 1994
Gelatin silver print
98.225.7
Image non disponible pour Tent City Family. This family was evicted from their home for voting. Somerville, Fayette County, Tennessee.
Ernest C. Withers
Tent City Family. This family was evicted from their home for voting. Somerville, Fayette County, Tennessee.
1960, printed 1994
Gelatin silver print
98.225.4
Daddy, I Want To Be Free Too. William Edwin Jones pushes daughter Renee Andrewnetta Jones during protest march on Main St., Memphis, Tennessee.
Ernest C. Withers
Daddy, I Want To Be Free Too. William Edwin Jones pushes daughter Renee Andrewnetta Jones during protest march on Main St., Memphis, Tennessee.
August 1961, printed 1994
Gelatin silver print
98.225.3
I Am A Man, Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee
Ernest C. Withers
I Am A Man, Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee
March 28, 1968, printed 1994
Gelatin silver print
98.225.1
Bishop Frederick Jordan, AME Baptist Church, T.O. Jones, Head of Sanitation Workers, Walter Ruether, United Auto Workers, lead commemorative march. Memphis, Tennessee.
Ernest C. Withers
Bishop Frederick Jordan, AME Baptist Church, T.O. Jones, Head of Sanitation Workers, Walter Ruether, United Auto Workers, lead commemorative march. Memphis, Tennessee.
April 8, 1968, printed 1994
Gelatin silver print
98.225.10
Junienne Briscoe of the Memphis NAACP Protests on Main Street
Ernest C. Withers
Junienne Briscoe of the Memphis NAACP Protests on Main Street
1960, printed later
Gelatin silver print
2008.641
Albany, Georgia, 1962, Dr. Martin Luther King and Reverend Ralph Abernathy are Escorted from the Court House to the Jail House
Danny Lyon
Albany, Georgia, 1962, Dr. Martin Luther King and Reverend Ralph Abernathy are Escorted from the Court House to the Jail House
1962
Gelatin silver print
99.391
Birmingham, Alabama, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Just Before He Spoke at the Funeral of the Four Murdered Girls
Danny Lyon
Birmingham, Alabama, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Just Before He Spoke at the Funeral of the Four Murdered Girls
1963, printed 1996
Gelatin silver print
2001.703