SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – History can be compared to an onion. From the outside, it’s a sphere. But if you remove the outer layer, you will find more layers.
The same is true of historical facts. Although facts often appear to be just a point in place and time, most are part of a more extraordinary tapestry that unfolds behind our ever-evolving culture.
One “tapestry” in Shreveport history is an image that appeared in an unlikely venue and was a mystery for 60 years. Most didn’t understand the history of the photograph shown below. As the investigation progressed and the full story of when the photo was taken, the photo became even more priceless to both Shreveport and American history.
Here’s the photo as it appeared in the SCLC’s Citizenship Workbook:
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference undertook a massive program to teach poor, overwhelmingly Black citizens to become a force in elections. Much of their effort was secretive initially because they still found harassment throughout the South.
However, when John F. Kennedy won the presidency and took office in 1961, he made his brother Robert the Attorney General of the United States. A younger attitude was suddenly in charge in the White House.
Many Civil Rights Movement leaders were young and gravitated toward Martin Luther King, Jr. They found new access to the federal government, and the Kennedy Brothers realized there was a powerful force in the unregistered masses of millions of adults.
That’s where Citizenship Workbooks came into the picture.
The following interview, which took place on Mar. 31, 2024, between Gary D. Joiner and Elaine Simpkins, explains exactly why there is a photograph of C.O. Simpkins, MLK, and RFK in the SCLC Citizenship Workbook.
Dr. Elaine Shoemaker Simpkins and Dr. Gary Joiner interview
———–Beginning of interview———
Joiner: Today is Sunday, Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024. I am speaking with Mrs. Elaine Simpkins, whose husband was the late Dr. C.O. Simpkins. Dr. Simpkins was a significant figure in the Civil Rights Movement in Shreveport and across America. He was a close confidant and friend to Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. He was also the vice president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the SCLC, and the President of the United Christian Movement, which began in Shreveport. Dr. Simpkins was an early figure in the Civil Rights Movement. He followed Dr. King’s beliefs, practiced non-violence, and was a superb organizer.
Elaine, a photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Simpkins, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy was taken in Kennedy’s office. I believe it was taken in late 1961 or early 1962. The photo appears in a citizenship workbook used in training by the SCLC during voter registration workshops. Can you tell me about that photo?
Simpkins: C.O. was in the Air Force and was very socially conscious. He saw that there was a great disparity in officer housing between White and Black officers. He talked to some of his fellow Air Force officers and spoke to officers in other service branches. He found that this seemed to be the norm throughout the Department of Defense and each branch. So, he wrote a letter to the attorney general, Robert F Kennedy. He requested an investigation into this disparity. C.O. didn’t think he would hear anything, but he did. He felt that if he got a response, it might be from some low or mid-level person. But that was not the case. He received a response directly from the Attorney General. The Attorney General invited C.O. and his fellow officers to meet with him at his office in Washington. C.O. asked several other officers if they wanted to come with him, and they agreed on the day of the meeting. C.O. was the only one who showed up at the place where they would meet before they went to the Department of Justice building. Before that day, C.O. had told Martin (Dr. King) about the offer of a meeting. He told Martin about the letter he received and how the letter came to be about.
Martin told C.O. that he would love to go with C.O. if he thought it was okay and if he could help. C.O. agreed. While C.O. and Martin waited for the other people to come, they visited, and when no one showed up, C.O. said, “Well, I guess it’s just you and me. Let’s go to the meeting.” When they got to the Attorney General’s Office, someone, I do not know who the photographer was, somebody took this picture. It is a candid picture, with Martin on the left looking toward the Attorney General. C.O. must have been speaking, and Mr. Kennedy was listening to both. So, no one in this picture was looking toward the camera. I have that photograph in my home.
Joiner: I think I mentioned that when I was trying to track down that photograph, I contacted the John F Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, and they said they would search for it. They knew of the image, but they weren’t sure about any of the details. It is not in their collection. I thought RFK’s staff might have taken it, but apparently not. They sent me a link to where they knew of two copies of that image. 1t turned out to be an excellent piece of luck. The image is in this citizenship workbook in the Smithsonian Museum of Black American History and Culture collection in D.C. I was able to view it. The Smithsonian verified that it is not copyrighted and did not have the negative. That citizenship workbook was designed to help people learn how to read, write, do math, work with money, and register to vote, which was the primary objective. The photograph appears to have been taken in late 1961 or 1962, certainly before 1963. The visit was scheduled just before this workbook was created at the Highlander Folk School in eastern Tennessee. The other place that it appears is in Jet magazine. And I’ve got a digital copy of both, but the photograph remains a mystery.
Simpkins: Robert Kennedy and his brother, the President, were socially conscious. They were brave enough to do the things that had to be done. When John Kennedy was killed in Dallas in 1963, it may have slowed things down or appeared to, but President Johnson continued the agenda. The Kennedy agenda became what Johnson called the Great Society. So we get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Joiner: I find it amazing that C.O. wrote a letter to the Attorney General of the United States, even though he was simply a serving Air Force officer, and the Attorney General personally responded to him and asked for a meeting because he, the Attorney General, thought that this was such an important issue. And it was. Do you know how C.O. got that copy of the photo when it came or anything like that?
Elaine: No. I only know that C.O. had it framed, which still hangs in a prominent place in my home. I wish I knew where it came from, but the fact that it is there means the world to me.
Joiner: C.O. was a dear friend, and I respect him above all, as I do you, too. I admire what he did and what you do, and I am always thrilled to call you my friend.
———–End of interview———
Sometimes, an artifact is labeled or used for one purpose but was created for a different intent. The photo taken in Robert Kennedy’s office is an excellent example.
The snapshot of the meeting marked an official change in governmental policy regarding how the Department of Defense treated non-white military officers.
The photograph’s use in the Citizenship Workbook also sent a powerful message about voting rights.
Two black leaders met with the United States Attorney General in an informal setting for the first time, and the meeting was recorded in an image that lent confidence to non- or semi-literate citizens and helped them be brave, register to vote, take control of their lives, and know the federal government was backing them. The image was published as the frontispiece in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Citizenship Workbook, c. 1961.
A copy of the photograph is in the Smithsonian Museum, National Museum of African American History and Culture.
SOURCES
Smithsonian Museum, National Museum of African American History and Culture
Southern Christian Leadership Conference Citizenship Workbook, c. 1961. Accessible at https://edan.si.edu/slideshow/viewer?damspath=/Public_Sets/NMAAHC/NMASASHC_tRANSCRIPTION_cENTER?2012_132.
INTERVIEW
Interview by Gary D. Joiner, Ph.D. with Elaine Simpkins, March 31, 2024.
Gary D. Joiner received a B.A. in history and geography from Louisiana Tech University, an M.A. in history from Louisiana Tech University, and a Ph.D. in history from St. Martin’s College, Lancaster University in the United Kingdom. He is a Professor of History at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, where he holds the Mary Anne and Leonard Selber Professorship. He is the director of the Strategy Alternatives Consortium and the Red River Regional Studies Center. His research interests span military history, local and regional studies, and defense-related projects. He is the author or editor of 38 books, including: 9/11: A Remembrance, Henry Chilvers: Admired by All (2018), History Matters, Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862, One Damn Blunder From Beginning to End, Through the Howling Wilderness, No Pardons to Ask Nor Apologies to Make, Little to Eat and Thin Mud to Drink, Mr. Lincoln’s Brown Water Navy, Red River Steamboats, Historic Shreveport-Bossier, Lost Shreveport: Vanishing Scenes From the Red River Valley, Historic Haunts of Shreveport and Wicked Shreveport, Wicked Shreveport, Historic Oakland Cemetery, Local Legends of Shreveport, Shre3veport’s Historic Greenwood Cemetery: Stories in Granite and Marble, Red River Campaign: The Union’s Last Attempt to Invade Texas, and The Battle of New Orleans: A Bicentennial Tribute. Dr. Joiner is also the author of numerous articles and technical reports and served as a consultant for ABC, CBS, Fox News, PBS, the Associated Press, A&E Network, C-SPAN, the Discovery Network, HGTV, the History Channel, MSNBC, SyFy, and MTV among others.
Among his awards and honors are: the Aaron and Peggy Selber Writing Competition Prize; Albert Castel Award; A.M. Pate, Jr. Award, Listed in the International Biographical Centre (Cambridge, England) Outstanding Academics of the 21st Century; Jefferson Davis Award nomination; Silver Spur Award nomination, Western Writers of America; Army Historical Foundation finalist, Distinguished Writing Award; Douglas Southall Freeman Award nomination, MOS & B; Book of the Month Club featured alternate, History Book Club Main Selection, and Military Book featured alternate; Lifetime Achievement Award and Life Membership, Red River Civil War Roundtable, Alexandria, Louisiana; Charles L. “Pie” Dufour Award, for Preservation and Scholarly Contributions in the field of History, New Orleans Civil War Roundtable; A.M. Pate Distinguished Service Award for Civil War History by the Fort Worth Civil War Round Table; Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservationist of the Year Award for 2010.
Jaclyn Tripp is an investigative reporter with KTAL NBC 6 News in Shreveport, where she focuses on the history, culture, and environment of northwest Louisiana. She is a United States Air Force Veteran, a graduate of Southern Arkansas University and DINFOS, and won the Louisiana Press Association’s award for Best Investigative Reporting. While on active duty, Jaclyn served as a military artist and photographer and as the assistant to the Little Rock Air Force Base‘s historian. She was born in Shreveport and is a native of Webster Parish.
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