• Gordon Parks (1912-2006) dedicated his talents to advancing social justice in America, most especially during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. He told his stories through many mediums: photography, film, poetry, books, and music.

• Born and raised in the segregated small town of Fort Scott, Kansas, Parks experienced firsthand racist hatred and violence. What he witnessed and lived through contributed to his deep commitment to social activism as an adult.

• After submitting a photo essay about a Harlem (New York) gang leader in 1948, he earned a position at Life magazine, then the most significant photojournalistic publication in the world, as the first African American staff photographer and writer.

• The most well-known books by Parks are The Learning Tree (1963) and A Choice of Weapons (1966 autobiography).

• Parks directed and produced the film The Learning Tree in 1968, becoming the first African American to do so for a major Hollywood studio. Parks also pioneered crime action movies featuring an African American lead character with Shaft (1971) and Shaft’s Big Score (1979).

• In 1970, Parks delivered the commencement lecture at Kansas State University and personally selected 128 of his photographs to give to the university. These now reside at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University.

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