To My Surprise

A couple of years ago I opened an email from a curator at the Smithonian Institution. Preparations were underway to open their National Museum of African American History & Culture and she was asking for permission to use a photograph that I had taken in 1970.

Let’s go back 45+ years. Then I was a student at the University of Michigan and a volunteer for the University Activities Committee. I was assigned to cover the Martin Luther King Jr memorial concert where the popular Fifth Dimension would perform. I was armed with a press pass and free to move throughout the huge stadium. But I was careful to avoid annoying the audience as I roamed around the stage area to get to different vantage points. And so I took a few dozen rolls of film that evening.

In 1970, as a 20 year-old youngster this was just plain fun for me. Nonetheless it amazes me that an event from long ago resurrected itself so many years later.

Anyway, here are some of the shots from that evening that led to the inclusion of my photo in one of the Smithonian Museums.

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This photo has been on display at the NMAAHC of the Smithonian
Billy Davis Jr and Lamonte McLemore	Lamonte and Marilyn McCoo
Florence LaRue and Marilyn McCoo	Ron Townsend
Florence LaRue	Billy Davis Jr
I was able to speak to the group briefly backstage after the concert
And I was lucky enough to get their autographs too.