Date of Award
1-1-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in History
First Advisor
Rebecca Marchiel
Second Advisor
Eva Payne
Third Advisor
Jarod Roll
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
This biographical work examines Elaine Tomlin’s visual interpretation of the Civil Rights Movement as the first Black female staff photographer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Thousands of her negatives have been recovered and will serve as the basis for this project. Through her photography, we see how local grassroots activism of marginalized communities nationwide collectively changed the nation. Many civil rights photographs appealed to White America's consciousness, but Tomlin's work was not for the White gaze. Instead, she highlighted Black excellence, history, and culture within the SCLC’s walls. Her photographs help us better understand the importance of representation and how community served as a form of resistance against inequality. She centered on women and children in quiet moments of care. Her photography sheds light on their challenges and highlights the power of ordinary moments and human connectedness.
How Americans would come to remember SCLC was deeply informed by Tomlin's photography – her work prominently featured throughout its archives. Black-owned publications highlighted her work. Tomlin marched on the front lines, captured peaceful marches, vocal protests, and brutal police beatings at demonstrations. Her career began in 1962 as a freelancer photographer and by 1969, she had been hired as SCLC’s first Black female staff photographer. In a historically male-dominated profession, there were few female photographers during the 1960s, let alone Black, making Tomlin an anomaly. Her images rank in the same technical expertise as other professional photojournalists who covered the Civil Rights Movement.
Recommended Citation
Steele, Alysia, "Traces of Elaine Tomlin: The Lone Black Female Staff Photographer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference" (2024). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2880.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/2880