Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham, Alabama

Description

In May of 1963 Birmingham police and firemen were given orders to dispel boycotters and protestors seeking increased civil rights in Kelly Ingram Park. They first used fire hoses and then attack dogs on the crowds of people, many of whom were women and children. Charles Moore’s Birmingham hosing photographs were reproduced in an eleven-page story in “Life” magazine, giving the civil rights movement increased media exposure and garnering support across the country. Here a woman is shown knocked to the ground by a stinging high-pressure fusillade, her purse wrenched from her grasp by the force of the water. Her fingertips alone are keeping her from falling flat, with the unmistakable glint of her wedding ring providing a jarring reminder of the commitment and sacrifice in her action.