Maggie L. Walker NHS to highlight civil rights photographer Louis Draper for MLK Day commemoration
RICHMOND, Va. – To commemorate the birthday of Martin Luther King, the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site will welcome Nell Draper-Winston as she shares the work and inspirational life story of Louis Draper, her late brother. Draper was an African American photographer, educator, and cultural ground-breaker who lived a life devoted to the art of photography and to the tenets of civil rights. The free program will take place on Monday, January 20, at 2:00 p.m. at the park’s visitor center at 600 N. 2nd Street, Richmond. The site, which is normally closed on Mondays, will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for the holiday.
Louis Draper grew up in Richmond and moved to New York in the 1950s to pursue his love of photography. With Langston Hughes as his mentor, he began capturing images of his Harlem neighborhood. In the early 1960s, he helped to form Kamoinge, a group focused on building awareness of African American photographers within the art community. In addition to photographing “ordinary” people, Draper photographed many leaders in the civil rights movement, including Fannie Lou Hamer and Katherine Dunham. His later years were spent encouraging future photographers as a professor of photography Mercer County Community College in New Jersey. Through sharing his work, Ms. Draper-Winston–a volunteer at the Walker site–hopes to inspire the next generation to use their talents to the best of their abilities as her brother did. The Drapers are also related to Maggie Walker’s mother, Elizabeth Draper Mitchell.
“Underlying the work of all three of these leaders–Maggie Walker, Martin Luther King, and Louis Draper–was an aspiration for future generations of African Americans,” said park superintendent David Ruth. “Each of them devoted themselves to advancing the cause of civil rights and each inspires us today to continue that work. We’re so pleased to offer this program, and we are especially grateful to Ms. Draper-Winston for her volunteer work at the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site.”
Draper’s photographs currently appear in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts exhibit, “Signs of Protest: Photographs from the Civil Rights Era.” The exhibit is part of a series, “Race, Place & Identity,” at area cultural institutions that also includes a retrospective of Draper’s work at Candela Books + Gallery in Richmond. More information about Louis Draper’s work is available online:
Louis Draper Project: http://thelouisdraperproject.wordpress.com/about/
New York Times blog: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/glossed-over-no-more-louis-drapers-archive/?_r=1
The Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site has been a unit of the National Park System since 1978. A national activist for the rights of African Americans and women, Maggie Walker (1864-1934) also inspired young people to learn self-discipline, self-help, and selflessness, and groomed young leaders who knew the importance of helping others and their communities. Guided tours of her restored home, located in historic Jackson Ward, are given by National Park rangers. The park visitor center is open Tuesday through Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Additional information is available at 804-771-2017, or on the web at www.nps.gov/mawa or www.Facebook.com/MaggieL.WalkerNHS.
