“The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture commemorates the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s final human rights crusade in a new exhibition on the Poor People’s Campaign, a multicultural coalition that began in 1968 to end poverty. The exhibition, City of Hope: Resurrection City & the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign, features rare archival film and new oral histories with people who helped organize the campaign including Marian Wright Edelman and Andrew Young. It also features wooden tent panels, lapel buttons, placards and murals created by and used by some of the nearly 8,000 people who occupied the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for nearly six weeks to call the nation’s attention to the crippling effects of poverty for minorities, children and the elderly.” — NMAAHC
“With new and recently discovered film and audio footage, images and objects, this exhibition provides a rare look inside the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign and commemorates the legacy of Dr. King’s final campaign for economic justice,” said Lonnie G. Bunch III, founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “This exhibition reminds us that despite the unprecedented economic growth in America over the past five decades, there are still many Americans living below the poverty line. Although the Poor People’s Campaign did not achieve its goal of eradicating poverty, it spawned a multiethnic and multiracial movement for economic fairness whose belief in helping America live up to its ideals still inspires to this day. The stories of those who sacrificed so much are found in City of Hope: Resurrection City & the Poor People’s Campaign.”
Pinback button for the Poor People’s Campaign, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., ca. 1968, ink on paper on metal. Printed by: AFL-CIO Locale 64 Union. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Linda and
Artis Cason
Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Plywood panel mural from Resurrection City 1968, oil paint and ink on plywood. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Vincent DeForest
Poor People’s Campaign, AFL-CIO. Pinback button for the Poor People’s Campaign, 1968, paper on metal with plastic. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of T. Rasul Murray
Photograph by Robert Houston. Martin Luther King, Jr. at podium, fundraiser at Boston Garden,
October 1967, silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Robert Houston
Photograph by Robert Houston. Jesse Jackson with soul power fist at Resurrection City, May 21, 1968 – June 23, 1968, silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Robert and Greta Houston, © Robert Houston
Photograph by Robert Houston. Constructing tents – Resurrection City, Wash., D.C. – 1968, May 21, 1968- June 23, 1968, digital. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Robert and Greta Houston, © Robert Houston
Photograph by Robert Houston. Photographic slide of the Poor People’s Campaign May 21, 1968 – June 23, 1968, reversal film and cardboard. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Robert Houston
Photograph by Robert Houston. Photographic slide of the Poor People’s Campaign May 21, 1968 – June 23, 1968, reversal film and cardboard. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Robert Houston
Photograph by Robert Houston. Woman in brown dress with children – Resurrection City, Wash., D.C. – 1968, May 21, 1968- June 23, 1968, digital. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Robert and Greta Houston, © Robert Houston
Photograph by Robert Houston. Two girls at tent – Resurrection City, Wash, D.C. – 1968, May 21, 1968- June 23, 1968, digital. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Robert and Greta Houston, © Robert Houston
Photograph by Robert Houston. Photographic slide of the Poor People’s Campaign May 21, 1968 – June 23, 1968, reversal film and cardboard. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Robert Houston
Photograph by Robert Houston. Photographic slide of the Poor People’s Campaign May 21, 1968 – June 23, 1968, reversal film and cardboard. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Robert Houston
Photograph by Robert Houston. Photographic slide of the Poor People’s Campaign May 21, 1968 – June 23, 1968, reversal film and cardboard. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Robert Houston
Photograph by Robert Houston. Photographic slide of the Poor People’s Campaign May 21, 1968 – June 23, 1968, reversal film and cardboard. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Robert Houston
Photograph by Robert Houston. Photographic slide of the Poor People’s Campaign May 21, 1968 – June 23, 1968, reversal film and plastic. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Robert Houston
Photograph by Robert Houston. Photographic slide of the Poor People’s Campaign May 21, 1968 – June 23, 1968, reversal film and cardboard. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Robert Houston
Photograph by Jill Freedman. Resurrection City: Untitled, 1968; printed September 2017, silver and photographic gelatin and photographic paper. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Jill Freedman
Photograph by Jill Freedman. Resurrection City: Untitled, 1968; printed September 2017, silver and photographic gelatin and photographic paper. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Jill Freedman
Photograph by Jill Freedman. Resurrection City: Untitled, 1968; printed September 2017, silver and photographic gelatin and photographic paper. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Jill Freedman
Photograph by Laura Jones. Mule Train from Mississippi going through the city of Washington, D.C. June, 1968, 1968, digital. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Laura Jones © Laura Jones
Photograph by Laura Jones. Ministers’ March, 1968, digital. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Laura Jones © Laura Jones
Photograph by Laura Jones. Crowd wading in the Reflection Pool, 1968, digital. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Laura Jones © Laura Jones
“In the 1960s, as the United States emerged as a global model of wealth and democracy, an estimated 25 million Americans lived in poverty. From the elderly and underemployed to children and persons with disabilities, poverty affected people of every race, age, and religion. In response, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led by King and Ralph David Abernathy, organized the Poor People’s Campaign as a national human rights issue. As a multiethnic movement that included African Americans, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, Asians and poor whites from Appalachia and rural communities, the sixweek, live-in demonstration in Washington attracted protestors nationwide. The campaign leaders presented demands to Congress, including jobs, living wages and access to land, capital and health care. It was the first large-scale, nationally organized demonstration after King’s death. The campaign, the final vision of King’s life, has come to be known as his most ambitious dream.” — NMAAHC
Images courtesy National Museum of African American History and Culture.
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