By: Lily Knickerbocker
Lifelong Philadelphia resident, Jack T. Franklin, is the next artist I strongly suggest examining. Born in 1922, Franklin expressed his art through photographs. Throughout Jack T. Franklin's life, he captured more than 500,000 images of Black lives and customs in Philadelphia during the Civil-Rights Movement. He pictured important Civil Rights leaders such as Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, and Cecil B. Moore. He also captured black culture through photographing fellow artists like Patti LaBelle and James Brown. Franklin's works can be found at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, however there are many online opportunities for viewers to soak in his brilliance at home. The virtual exhibit Through His Eyes: Youth Activism in the Civil Rights Era in Philadelphia displays a collection of photographs featuring Black youth that were overlooked during the Civil Rights Movement. Franklin died of heart failure at age 87, but his 60 years of artistry dedicated to disclosing injustices will forever be remembered not only in Pennsylvania, but throughout the world.
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