Mr and Mrs Thornton in their home, Mobile, Alabama in 1956 by Gordon Parks from the series ‘Segregation Story’ for Life Magazine. The series documented the daily exclusions which blighted the lives of one extended family under segregation.

Segregated building plots, Mobile, Alabama in 1956 by Gordon
Parks.

Segregated serving windows, Alabama in 1956 by Gordon Parks. The use of colour reminds us that this is not ancient history.

Outside Looking In, children excluded from a whites only play area, Mobile, Alabama in 1956 by Gordon Parks. From the series ‘Segregation Story’ for Life Magazine.

Segregated Drinking Fountain, Mobile, Alabama in 1956 by Gordon Parks.

Alabama in 1956 by Gordon Parks. He said of his work
“I picked up a camera because it was my choice of weapons against what I hated most about the universe: racism, intolerance, poverty. I could have just as easily picked up a knife or a gun, like many of my childhood...”

“... friends did ... most of whom were murdered or put in prison ... but I chose not to go that way. I felt that I could somehow subdue these evils by doing something beautiful that people recognise me by, & thus make a whole different life for myself, which has proved to be so.”

The family which was featured in this series was run out of town by a redneck mob and left by the side of the road when the story was published. They promised to tar and feather Gordon Parks if he ever returned. Parks raised $25,000 for the family to get them rehoused elsewhere.

Around 27 photographs from this series were originally published. The rest of the photos were thought to be lost until relatively recently when 70 transparencies were discovered in the bottom of a storage bin. You can see them in this book.

You can see an extract from the book here. It gives such an insight into those times.