Pittsburgh photographer documented Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s visits and its impact on the city
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Today, we remember the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Over the years, he made a number of visits to Pittsburgh. And, during those visits, one Pittsburgher chronicled the impact on the community through the lens of his camera.
As a photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier, Charles "Teenie" Harris captured the essence of decades of Pittsburgh's black community through thousands of black and white photos.
"He makes you feel like you're in the moment of a photograph because of the way that he shot and because of his ability to have a close proximity to people," Charlene Foggie-Barnett, from the Carnegie Museum of Art, said.
Foggie-Barnett is the Charles Teenie Harris Community Archivist at the museum. The collection includes more than 70,000 photos taken by Harris over his career -- including Martin Luther King, Jr.
"This is where the big event happened in 1958," Foggie-Barnett said. "You see the two of them shaking hands and what not. This is a classic Teenie shot. He's shooting both of them in a joyous moment."
The picture shows Dr. King with Rev. Cornell Talley on Aug. 31, 1958.
Dr. King was visiting Central Baptist Church on Wylie Avenue in the Hill District. But Harris' photo from outside the church tells you more. Dr. King's visit attracted a large crowd.
There's even a photo from above.
"We're looking at this moment in history, but I'm also seeing the streetcar tracks, which teaches you about the city of Pittsburgh at that time," Foggie-Barnett said. "The cobblestones, the types of cars, the types of clothing."
There were also pictures from King's 1966 speech at the University of Pittsburgh, as well as photos from the aftermath of his death.
"I take from that a moment in a childhood history when we all were quite shaken by things that we hear about all the time in the news, but an assassination," Foggie-Barnett said. "As children we had to pivot and figure out how we felt about that."
All of the photos are searchable on the Carnegie Museum of Art website within the Teenie Harris Collection. Meanwhile, there may be even more photos yet to be discovered.
"We have some new photography that we're opening up, some new records that we haven't been able to go through," Foggie-Barnett said. "So, we may have more Dr. King coming than we have currently."
