Sale 2471 - Printed & Manuscript African Americana, March 29, 2018

FEATURING FUTURE CONGRESSMAN LEWIS KNEELING IN PROTEST 162 c   (CIVIL RIGHTS.) Lyon, Danny; photographer. Come Let Us Build a New World Together. Poster, 14 1 / 4 x 18 inches; 2 vertical folds, minor wear. Atlanta, GA: Lincoln Lithograph Company, circa 1962 [3,000/4,000] This is one of a series of five Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee posters featuring the work of important civil rights photographer Danny Lyon. It was probably produced before the July 1963 introduction of zip codes, as the address has only the earlier two-digit city zone number. We only know of one other poster from this series at auction, at a Swann sale on 10 March 2011, lot 241. This poster depicts protesters kneeling in prayer at a segregated swimming pool in Cairo, IL in 1962. At left is 22-year-old SNCC organizer John Lewis. He would soon go on to serve as chairman of SNCC, and has been a United States Congressman for the past three decades. Is kneeling a peaceful gesture of protest or a threat to American society? You be the judge.