Freedom or Death

Artist Frederick C. Baldwin (American, 1929 - 2021)

Date1963

Mediumgelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 8 5/8 × 13 inches (21.9 × 33 cm)
Sheet: 11 × 14 1/16 inches (27.9 × 35.7 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase.

Object number2009.3.24

On View

Not on view

Copyright© Fred Baldwin. The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextFrederick Baldwin is an American photographer born in Lausanne, Switzerland where his father served as an US diplomat. Baldwin served as a Marine during the Korean War (1950-53). When Baldwin traveled to Savannah to visit his family in the early 1960s, the Civil Rights movement was at its peak. Wanting to be a part of it, Baldwin captured the world encapsulated inside the Civil Rights movement in Savannah. In 1963-64, he worked as a volunteer photographer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He became familiar with members of the movement in Savannah, like Otis Johnson, and began documenting current events (Otis Johnson was the first black student to integrate Armstrong Junior College in Savannah and later served as mayor of Savannah from 2004-2012). Baldwin’s work offers the essential spirit of the period, without sensationalist imagery depicting violence or protest. His work focuses instead on recording the mobilization and individual leadership of the time.

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