Powerful imagery of protests and violence helped bring attention to America's civil rights movement. Black photographers of the era broadened the nation’s view, also capturing a wide range of social activities in the African American community.

Local photographers such as William Fambrough and Matthew Washington documented the African American experience in Kansas City, from church, school, and social activities to the realities of segregation and struggle for equality. Historian Delia Cook Gillis highlights the work of these and other photographers and examines the history of Kansas City’s black community through their lenses.

Gillis is a history professor and director of the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg.