Ken Thompson Rediscovered |
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by Chris Heckert and Klay S. Williams |
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New World Outlook, September/October 2009 In 1960, a 17-year-old high school senior won a photo contest in his hometown and was recommended by his art teacher to an editor working on a magazine for the United Church of Christ (UCC). Ken Thompson shot photos for North Penn High School's yearbook in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, where the UCC had offices. Herman Ahrens, Jr., editor of Youth magazine, decided to give the kid a shot. He assigned Thompson to work on a story about a French exchange student attending North Penn, and the young photographer followed her around school for a week, documenting her activities. Ahrens said he could see even then that the kid had talent. "You could see he knew how to take a good photo," said Ahrens. By the 1960s, Youth magazine was becoming an ecumenical publication, which won support and youth representation from 12 different denominations. Ahrens continued to send Thompson out to gather photos of high school students for the magazine. "He gave our magazine a photographic lift," said Ahrens. "Although Youth magazine had a number of photographers, Ken's work started the ball rolling toward excellent photography. The magazine won many ecumenical awards for photography." Ahrens also began to take Thompson along with him to UCC General Synod meetings and ecumenical youth gatherings. It was at one of these gatherings that Thompson was introduced to the Rev. Bob Spike, hired by the National Council of Churches (NCC) to head its newly formed Commission on Religion and Race in 1963. Upon assuming his role, Spike immediately reached out to the organizers of the Civil Rights Movement in many direct ways. The NCC trained more than 800 mostly white volunteers to travel to Mississippi and open up "Freedom Schools." This corps of volunteers worked through the summer of 1964 to register black voters, raise bail for jailed civil rights workers, and organize community centers. Ken Thompson was hired by the NCC to document the development of the Freedom Schools, follow civil rights leaders, and cover the broader work of the National Council of Churches. Since the camera's invention, the role of photography in telling stories has been crucial to major movements in history, including wars, social and grassroots movements, political affairs, and cultural formation. A photograph can reveal humanity's triumphs, joys, and optimism, but also its atrocities, injustices, and failings. Ken Thompson, hired by the NCC at age 20, was sent to document the Civil Rights Movement at a time when incredible forces from the religious and secular worlds were coming together to force a change in US society. Many gave their lives to this cause. Words alone of justice, perseverance, witness, hope, and despair--of forgiving love and oppressive hate--can do only so much to communicate the realities that people were experiencing around the country during the 1960s. The power of photography, then and now, brings those deep-rooted emotions to life. Ken Thompson spent 10 years traveling around the United States, documenting the Civil Rights Movement. He was also hired as a freelance photographer by the Methodist Church's mission board, which became the General Board of Global Ministries after union with the Evangelical United Brethren Church in 1968. After three brief years with the board, Thompson died tragically as the result of an accident. Upon his death, the mission agency acquired Thompson's photographs from his family. This collection of more than 35,000 photographs has remained virtually untouched for the past 35 years. The black-and-white images of struggle and triumph, the voices of witness and resistance, are as relevant today as they were four decades ago. The many individuals represented in the photographs of this collection and the untold story of Ken Thompson's witness behind the lens are finally being rediscovered. Global Ministries will present a partial exhibition of Thompson's works at The Interchurch Center in New York City during the months of January and February 2010. The exhibit, a tiny portion of the Thompson collection, will be featured as a special kickoff for the 50th Anniversary of The Interchurch Center, home to both the National Council of Churches and the General Board of Global Ministries since the 1950s. A special emphasis on religious leaders and organizers associated with The Interchurch Center during this movement will be a focus of this exhibit. The Ken Thompson collection captures religious organizers and activists at historic moments throughout the Civil Rights Movement. Examples of subjects captured in this photographic record are the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, Ralph Abernathy, Coretta Scott King, Malcolm X, and the Rev. Bob Spike. As a white photographer, Thompson was also able to shoot events such as Ku Klux Klan rallies to capture another side of the story. Visitors are welcome to view the collection in the lobby gallery of the Interchurch Center on the upper west side of Manhattan. The exhibit will be open to the general public. For more information, please contact the Rev. Chris Heckert, Associate General Secretary of Mission Communications and Marketing, via email, checkert@gbgm-umc.org, or mail (475 Riverside Dr., Rm. 1473, New York, NY 10115). In addition to the exhibit at The Interchurch Center, Ken Thompson's work will also be featured at the United Methodist Women's Assembly, April 29 through March 2, 2010, at the America Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The Rev. Chris Heckert is Associate General Secretary of Mission Communications and Marketing, and Klay S. Williams is Project Manager of Communications and Marketing for the General Board of Global Ministries.
Date posted: Sep 01, 2009 |
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The Mission Magazine of the United Methodist Church
