Ernest Withers

Ernest C. Withers (August 7, 1922 – October 15, 2007) was an African-American photojournalist. He documented over 60 years of African American history in the segregated South, with iconic images of the Montgomery bus boycott, Emmett Till, Memphis sanitation strike, Negro league baseball, and musicians including those related to Memphis blues and Memphis soul.[1][2] In 2010, it was revealed that Withers was a paid informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigations' COINTELPRO program.[3][4]

Ernest Columbus Withers, Sr.
Born(1922-08-07)August 7, 1922
Memphis, Tennessee
DiedOctober 15, 2007(2007-10-15) (aged 85)
Memphis, Tennessee
OccupationFreelance photographer, Memphis policeman
Notable work
Photographs of the segregated South in the 1940s–2000s, Negro league baseball, and the Memphis blues scene, Pictures Tell the Story by Ernest C. Withers, other books including Ernest C. Withers The Memphis Blues Again-Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs, and many Jet Magazine photographs and more.
Home townMemphis, Tennessee

Ernest Withers work has been archived by the Library of Congress and has been slated for the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture, in Washington, D.C.[1]

Biography

Early life

Ernest C. Withers was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Arthur Withers and Pearl Withers of Marshall County, Mississippi; he had a step-mother known as Mrs. Minnie Withers. Ba Ba [Father] Withers exhibited interest in photography from a young age. He took his first photograph in high school after his sister gave him a camera she received from a classmate. He met his wife Dorothy Curry of Brownsville, Tennessee (they remained married for 66 years), at Manassas High School in Memphis, Tennessee.

During World War II he received training at the Army School of Photography. After the war, Withers served as one of Memphis' first African-American police officers.[5]

Personal life

Withers and his wife Dorothy had eight children together (seven boys and one girl, Rosalind Withers). He also had a second daughter from Memphis, Tennessee named Frances Williams. All of his sons accompanied him as apprentice photographers at different points in his career, including Ernest, Jr., Perry O., Clarence (Joshua), E., Wendell J., Dedrick (Teddy) J., Dyral L., and Andrew (Rome).[6] His business was called Withers Photography Studio.

Withers enjoyed traveling, visiting family members and entertaining guest at his home including Brock Peters, Jim Kelly, Eartha Kitt, Alex Haley, Ivan van Sertima, Stokley Carmichael (Kwame Ture), and many others in the entertainment world and black consciousness movement. He attended Gospel Temple Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. He was also an all-round (high-school to professional) sports enthusiast.[7]

Career

Withers was active for approximately 60 years, with his most noted work being the images captured of the Civil Rights Movement.

He traveled with Martin Luther King Jr. during his public life. Withers' coverage of the Emmett Till murder trial brought national attention to the racial violence taking place during the 1950s in Mississippi, among other places. Withers appeared in a TV documentary about the murdered 14-year-old entitled The American Experience: The Murder of Emmett Till.[7]

Withers served as official photographer for Stax Records for 20 years.[1]

Between 1 million and 5 million images are estimated to have been taken during Withers' career, with current efforts in progress for preservation and digitization.[1]

Death

In 2007 Withers died from the complications of a stroke in his hometown of Memphis.

FBI Document Release

In 2013, the FBI released documents relating to Ernest Withers in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by a Memphis newspaper, The Commercial Appeal.[8] The documents begin in 1946 with the FBI investigating Withers as a possible communist, as he was a member of the United Negro Allied Veterans of America (UNAVA) after serving in World War II, and the group was thought to have communist ties.[9]

A 1968 document contains the first reference to an informant, ME 338-R (Ghetto), widely believed to be a reference to Withers and inferred by the FBI's responses to FOIA court actions. ME 338-R(Ghetto) provided a variety of general information including pictures and brief descriptions of meetings and events. There is limited specific information, commonly relating to a militant group named the Invaders. ME 338-R(Ghetto) recorded the violence and connections of the Invaders including a leaflet on the manufacturing of firebombs, and links to prostitution.[10][11]

ME 338-R(Ghetto) was an informant for 2 years, 1968 through the final report in 1970, with 19 reports that include some reference to the informant. A total of 10 pictures were provided by the informant in the released documents.[12]

Ernest Withers died years before the FOIA request was made, thus no direct response was possible. However, at the 2000 Withers exhibition at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, Withers said he had FBI agents regularly looking over his shoulder and questioning him, "I never tried to learn any high powered secrets," Withers said. "It would have just been trouble.…[The FBI] was pampering me to catch whatever leaks I dropped, so I stayed out of meetings where decisions were being made."[13]

Civil rights leader Andrew Young commented after the release of the FBI file, "The movement was transparent and didn't have anything to hide anyway".[14]

Ernest Withers Museum and Collection

The Ernest Withers Museum and Collection opened in Memphis, Tennessee on Beale Street in May 2011.[1] The Museum features images of Ernest Withers spanning the eras of his work, while the complete archive is held in an offsite location. The Withers Museum and Collection is approximately 7,000 square feet.[1]

Publications
  • Worley, William (1998). Beale Street: Crossroads of America's Music. Addax Pub Group Inc. ISBN 978-1-886110-18-2.
  • Withers, Ernest (2000). Pictures Tell the Story : Ernest C. Withers Reflections in History. Chrysler Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-940744-68-4.
  • Withers, Ernest (2001). The Memphis Blues Again: Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs. Studio. ISBN 978-0-670-03031-6.
  • Withers, Ernest (2005). Negro League Baseball. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 978-0-8109-5585-1.
  • Withers, Ernest (2019). Ernest Withers and the FBI: The Confidential Informant Files, Volume One. Clear Lens Publishing. ISBN 978-1-7939-3124-5.

See also

References
  1. "Tennessee TripTales: a fine collection of stories crafted from across the state". Tnvacation.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  2. Noland, Claire (October 18, 2007). "Ernest C. Withers, 85; photographed civil rights era, blacks in baseball, Memphis music". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016 – via LA Times.
  3. Brown, Robbie (September 13, 2010). "Civil Rights Photographer Unmasked as Informer". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  4. Perrusquia, Marc (2018). A Spy in Canaan: How the FBI Used a Famous Photographer to Infiltrate the Civil Rights Movement. Melville House. pp. 232–241. ISBN 978-1-61219-341-0.
  5. "Ernest Withers". The Times. London. October 27, 2007.
  6. "Ernest Withers, Civil Rights Photographer, Dies at 85". The New York Times. October 17, 2007. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  7. Peterson, Alison J. (October 17, 2007). "Ernest Withers, Civil Rights Photographer, Dies at 85". The New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
  8. Producer, By Carol Cratty, CNN Senior. "Newspaper lawsuit yields FBI records from civil rights-era informant - CNN.com". Cnn.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  9. Released by FBI under Freedom of Information lawsuit, June 2011 (August 3, 2011). "Withers a member of suspected Communist group, 1946". Archive.org. Retrieved June 6, 2016 – via Internet Archive.
  10. National Archives and Records Administration (March 19, 2013). "Withers reports on MLK's March 18, 1968 visit". Archive.org. Retrieved June 6, 2016 – via Internet Archive.
  11. "Internet Archive Search: subject:"46-grant-smith"". Archive.org. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  12. National Archives and Records Administration (March 19, 2013). "Southern Christian Leadership Conference photos". Archive.org. Retrieved June 6, 2016 – via Internet Archive.
  13. "Ernest Withers: A Second Look". Artnewengland.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  14. Perrusquia, Marc. "Photographer Ernest Withers doubled as FBI informant to spy on civil rights movement". Cdn.knoxblogs.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
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