Religious News Service Photographs

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About this Collection

Conceived by journalist Louis Minsky (1909-1957), Religious News Service (RNS) was established in 1934 as an affiliated but independently managed agency of the National Conference of Jews and Christians (later the National Conference of Christians and Jews), and was dedicated to providing authoritative and bias-free news about religion and ethics to both the secular and religious press. This collection contains photographs documenting Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish groups. Coverage of Protestants (especially mainline Protestants) and Catholics constitutes the bulk of the images. View the collection guide to learn more. Digitization of some of the images in this collection made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Featured image: Father James Groppi, the civil rights activist priest from Milwaukee, and militant leader Rennie Davis are taken into custody during an anti war demonstration a block from the White House.

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Title:
Mississippi civil rights inquiry opens.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: PC-32138 MISSISSIPPI CIVIL RIGHTS INQUIRY OPENS JACKSON, Miss. -- A long-proposed inquiry into denial of voting rights and the administration of justice to Negroes in Mississippi was opened in Jackson by the six-member U.S. Civil Rights Commission, which includes Father Theodore M. Hesburgh (right), president of the University of Notre Dame. The sessions were called to order by Dr. John A. Hannah (second from left), commission chairman and president of Michigan State University. Other commission members shown are Dean Erwin N. Griswold of Harvard University’s Law School and Mrs. Frankie Muse Freeman, associate general counsel of the St. Louis Housing and Land Clearance Authorities. Other members present, but now [sic] shown here, were Eugene Patterson, editor of the Atlanta Constitution and vice-chairman of the commission, and Robert S. Rankin of the department of political science at Duke University. One of the first witnesses to appear at the hearings was Mississippi Atty. Gen. Joe T. Patterson, who declared that state leaders were trying to deal with the civil rights issue “free of demagoguery.” Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (W-NY-2B-65-NBM)
Creator:
Wide World Photos, Inc. (publisher)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., United States Commission on Civil Rights., Hesburgh, Theodore M. (Theodore Martin), 1917-2015., Catholic Church--Clergy., University of Notre Dame--Faculty., Hannah, John A., 1902-1991., Michigan State University--Faculty., Griswold, Erwin N. (Erwin Nathaniel), 1904-1994., Harvard Law School--Faculty., Freeman, Frankie Muse, 1916-2018., Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (St. Louis, Mo.), Saint Louis County (Mo.). Housing Authority., Patterson, Eugene C. (Eugene Corbett), 1923-2013., Rankin, Robert S. (Robert Stanley), 1899-1976., Duke University--Faculty., Patterson, Joe T., 1907-1969.
Topics:
Civil rights movements--United States., Governmental investigations--United States., Civil rights--Mississippi--Jackson., Attorneys general--Mississippi.
Geographic subjects:
Jackson (Miss.), Mississippi--Race relations.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:355944
Title:
Rebuilt Negro church dedicated.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: P-32095 REBUILT NEGRO CHURCH DEDICATED JACKSON, Miss. -- Negro and white clergy and laymen gathered in the nearly-completed Christian Union Baptist church in north Jackson, Miss., for ceremonies dedicating the new structure. The brick building, filled to overflowing, stands on the site of a sanctuary that was destroyed by fire on July 19, 1964. The church is one of 13 damaged Negro churches in the state being assisted by the interreligious Committee of Concern and was the first to be dedicated. Seated, from left to right, are: Dr. William P. Davis, chairman of the committee; Rabbi Perry E. Nussbaum of Temple Beth Israel in Jackson; Episcopal Coadjutor Bishop J. Maury Allin of Mississippi; Dr. S. Leon Whitney, pastor of Parish Street Baptist church in Jackson and vice-president of Mississippi Baptist Seminary; Mrs. Georgia Gray, church clerk, and the Rev. E.D. Hogan, pastor of the rebuilt church. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (MBNS-JM-1E-65-NBM)
Creator:
Mississippi Baptist Convention Board. (publisher)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., Christian Union Baptist Church (Jackson, Miss.), Committee of Concern (Jackson, Miss.), Davis, William Penn, 1903-, Nussbaum, Perry E. (Perry Edward), 1908-1987., Allin, John Maury., Whitney, S. Leon., Gray, Georgia., Hogan, E.D.
Topics:
Clergy--Mississippi--Jackson., African American churches--Mississippi--Jackson., African American clergy--Mississippi--Jackson., Church buildings--Reconstruction--Mississippi--Jackson., Church dedication--Mississippi--Jackson.
Geographic subjects:
Jackson (Miss.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:355905
Title:
Civil rights query underway.
Creator:
Wide World Photos, Inc. (author)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., United States Commission on Civil Rights., Hesburgh, Theodore M. (Theodore Martin), 1917-2015., Catholic Church--Clergy., University of Notre Dame--Faculty., Hannah, John A., 1902-1991., Michigan State University--Faculty., Griswold, Erwin N. (Erwin Nathaniel), 1904-1994., Harvard Law School--Faculty., Freeman, Frankie Muse, 1916-2018., Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (St. Louis, Mo.), Saint Louis County (Mo.). Housing Authority.
Topics:
Civil rights movements--United States., Governmental investigations--United States., Civil rights--Mississippi--Jackson.
Geographic subjects:
Jackson (Miss.), Mississippi--Race relations.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:355811
Title:
Rights hearings begin in Mississippi.
Description:
Clipping from the February 11, 1965 issue of the New York Times.
Creator:
New York times. (publisher)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., United States Commission on Civil Rights., Hesburgh, Theodore M. (Theodore Martin), 1917-2015., Catholic Church--Clergy., University of Notre Dame--Faculty., Hannah, John A., 1902-1991., Michigan State University--Faculty., Griswold, Erwin N. (Erwin Nathaniel), 1904-1994., Harvard Law School--Faculty., Freeman, Frankie Muse, 1916-2018., Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (St. Louis, Mo.), Saint Louis County (Mo.). Housing Authority., Patterson, Eugene C. (Eugene Corbett), 1923-2013., Rankin, Robert S. (Robert Stanley), 1899-1976., Duke University--Faculty., Patterson, Joe T., 1907-1969.
Topics:
Civil rights movements--United States., Governmental investigations--United States., Civil rights--Mississippi--Jackson., Attorneys general--Mississippi.
Geographic subjects:
Jackson (Miss.), Mississippi--Race relations.
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:355652
Title:
Galloway United Methodist Church, segregated.
Creator:
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Commission on Religion and Race. (publisher), Thompson, Kenneth. (photographer)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., Methodist Church (U.S.)--Bishops., Galloway Memorial Methodist Church (Jackson, Miss.), Golden, Charles Franklin., Mathews, James K. (James Kenneth), 1913-
Topics:
Bishops--Mississippi--Jackson., Civil rights demonstrations--Mississippi--Jackson., Civil rights--Religious aspects--Christianity., Segregation--Mississippi--Jackson., Civil rights movements--United States., Police--Mississippi--Jackson.
Geographic subjects:
Jackson (Miss.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:350300
Title:
NCC officials face Mississippi press.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: P-31163 NCC OFFICIALS FACE MISSISSIPPI PRESS JACKSON, Miss. -- Christian motivation behind civil rights programs in Mississippi is stressed by two National Council of Churches race relations leaders as they meet reporters in the concourse of the airport at Jackson. Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, left, chief executive officer of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and chairman of the NCC’s Commission on Religion and Race, and Dr. Robert W. Spike, executive director of the commission, explained the summer student program which will bring some 500-1000 college students to the state to conduct “freedom schools” for Negroes, and a long-range anti-poverty “Delta Ministry” to be launched in the fall under NCC auspices. The Council was conducting orientation sessions for summer program volunteers, who will work under the direction of civil rights groups in the democracy education and voter registration effort. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (EC-JM-6C-64-NBM)
Creator:
Chambers, Elsie May. (photographer)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., Mississippi Freedom Project., National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Commission on Religion and Race., Spike, Robert W. (Robert Warren), Blake, Eugene Carson, 1906-1985., Delta Ministry of Mississippi.
Topics:
Civil rights--Religious aspects--Christianity., Civil rights movements--United States., Clergy--Mississippi--Jackson., Press conferences--Mississippi--Jackson.
Geographic subjects:
Jackson (Miss.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:350224
Title:
Galloway United Methodist Church, segregated.
Creator:
Religious News Service. (publisher)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., Methodist Church (U.S.)--Bishops., Galloway Memorial Methodist Church (Jackson, Miss.), Golden, Charles Franklin., Mathews, James K. (James Kenneth), 1913-
Topics:
Bishops--Mississippi--Jackson., Civil rights demonstrations--Mississippi--Jackson., Civil rights--Religious aspects--Christianity., Segregation--Mississippi--Jackson., Civil rights movements--United States., Police--Mississippi--Jackson.
Geographic subjects:
Jackson (Miss.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:350109
Title:
Methodist bishops barred at Jackson church.
Creator:
Associated Press. (author), Lehew, Dudley. (author)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., Methodist Church (U.S.)--Bishops., Methodist Church (U.S.)--Clergy., Taylor, Wendell P.C., Mathews, James K. (James Kenneth), 1913-, Golden, Charles Franklin., Galloway Memorial Methodist Church (Jackson, Miss.)
Topics:
Bishops--Mississippi--Jackson., Civil rights demonstrations--Mississippi--Jackson., Civil rights--Religious aspects--Christianity., Segregation--Mississippi--Jackson., Civil rights movements--United States., Holy Week--Alabama--Birmingham., Easter--Alabama--Birmingham.
Geographic subjects:
Jackson (Miss.)--Race relations., Jackson (Miss.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:348625
Title:
Burned cross, a symbol of protest.
Description:
Alternate caption.
Creator:
Wide World Photos, Inc. (author)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., Tougaloo College--Students., Civic Arena (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Methodist Church (U.S.). General Conference., Moore, Austin C.
Topics:
Segregation--Religious aspects--Christianity., Civil rights movements--United States., Civil rights demonstrations--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh., African American college students--Illinois--Chicago., Historically Black colleges and universities--Mississippi--Jackson., Universities and colleges--Mississippi--Jackson., College students--Illinois--Chicago.
Geographic subjects:
Pittsburgh (Pa.), Jackson (Miss.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:348541
Title:
Charred cross symbolizes racial protest.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: P-30969 CHARRED CROSS SYMBOLIZES RACIAL PROTEST PITTSBURGH -- More than 1,000 Methodists knelt, linked hands and sang “We Shall Overcome” as a charred cross -- burned by the Ku Klux Klan on the campus of predominantly Negro Tougaloo Southern Christian College near Jackson, Miss. -- is carried past the Pittsburgh Civic Arena where the denomination held its Quadrennial General Conference. The demonstration, against segregation in general as well as within the Methodist Church -- started at midnight with a prayer vigil and continued until Conference sessions were underway. The cross is carried by Austin Moore of Chicago, a student at the Mississippi college. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (W-NY-5B-64-NBM)
Creator:
Wide World Photos, Inc. (publisher)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., Tougaloo College--Students., Civic Arena (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Methodist Church (U.S.). General Conference., Moore, Austin C., Ku Klux Klan (1915- )
Topics:
Segregation--Religious aspects--Christianity., Civil rights movements--United States., Civil rights demonstrations--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh., African American college students--Illinois--Chicago., Historically Black colleges and universities--Mississippi--Jackson., Universities and colleges--Mississippi--Jackson., College students--Illinois--Chicago.
Geographic subjects:
Pittsburgh (Pa.), Jackson (Miss.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:348405
Title:
Methodist bishops barred at Jackson church.
Description:
Text transcribed from caption: P-30818 METHODIST BISHOPS BARRED AT JACKSON CHURCH JACKSON, Miss. -- Two Methodist bishops who were refused admit-tance to Galloway Methodist church in Jackson, Miss., on Easter Sunday, visit after the incident with the Rev. Wendell Taylor (right), pastor of the Central Methodist church (Negro), in the city. Bishop James K. Mathews of Boston (left) and Bishop Charles Golden of Nashville, Tenn., were blocked by ushers at both front and side doors of the Galloway church. On the same day, seven ministers were arrested as they and two Negro youths tried to enter Capitol Street Methodist church, where several integrated groups previously have been turned away. Bishop Mathews, commenting on the incident at Galloway church, said some onlookers made remarks relating to “our probable ancestry and our likely ultimate destination.” At the same time, he said, many white members “were bold enough” to greet them. “This took real courage on their part.” Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (DL-J-4A-64-NBM)
Creator:
Herron, Matt, 1931-2020. (photographer), Religious News Service. (publisher)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., Methodist Church (U.S.)--Bishops., Methodist Church (U.S.)--Clergy., Taylor, Wendell P.C., Mathews, James K. (James Kenneth), 1913-, Golden, Charles Franklin., Galloway Memorial Methodist Church (Jackson, Miss.)
Topics:
Bishops--Mississippi--Jackson., Civil rights demonstrations--Mississippi--Jackson., Civil rights--Religious aspects--Christianity., Segregation--Mississippi--Jackson., Civil rights movements--United States., Holy Week--Alabama--Birmingham., Easter--Alabama--Birmingham.
Geographic subjects:
Jackson (Miss.)--Race relations., Jackson (Miss.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:348341
Title:
Burned Negro churches receive aid.
Description:
Christians from many parts of the country are donating funds or furnishings to assist reconstruction of 38 black Baptist churches bombed or burned in Mississippi.
Creator:
Chambers, Elsie. (photographer)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., Committee of Concern (Jackson, Miss.), Thompson, Leonard., Davis, William Penn, -1903., Odle, Joe T., 1909-1980.
Topics:
Religious facilities--Destruction and pillage--Mississippi--Jackson., Baptist church buildings--Fires and fire prevention--Mississippi--Jackson., Church maintenance and repair--Mississippi--Jackson.
Geographic subjects:
Jackson (Miss.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:151636
Title:
Rebuilt Negro church dedicated.
Description:
Rebuilt at a cost of $15,450 after being burned in the racial strife of last Summer, Zion Hill Baptist church in Summit, near McComb, Miss., was dedicated before an interracial congregation.
Creator:
Chambers, Elsie. (photographer)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., Committee of Concern (Jackson, Miss.)
Topics:
Religious facilities--Destruction and pillage--Mississippi--Summit., Baptist church buildings--Fires and fire prevention--Mississippi--Summit., Church maintenance and repair--Mississippi--Summit., Church dedication--Mississippi--Summit.
Geographic subjects:
Jackson (Miss.), Summit (Miss.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:151627
Title:
Principals at Negro church dedication.
Description:
Principals at the dedication of the rebuilt Zion Hill Baptist church in Summit were, from left: the Rev. W. D. Carr, Dr. William P. Davis, and the Rev. Daniel Walker.
Creator:
Chambers, Elsie. (photographer)
Subject names:
Religious News Service--Archives., Committee of Concern (Jackson, Miss.), Davis, William Penn, -1903., Carr, W. D., Walker, Daniel.
Topics:
Religious facilities--Destruction and pillage--Mississippi--Summit., Baptist church buildings--Fires and fire prevention--Mississippi--Summit., Church maintenance and repair--Mississippi--Summit., Church dedication--Mississippi--Summit.
Geographic subjects:
Jackson (Miss.), Summit (Miss.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:151368
Title:
NCC Officials Face Mississippi Press.
Description:
Eugene Carson Blake, left, chief executive officer of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and chairman of the NCC's Commission on Religion and Race, and Dr. Robert W. Spike, executive director of the commission, [meet with reporters in the concourse of the Jackson, Mississippi airport to explain the Delta Ministry's summer student program].
Creator:
Chambers, Elsie M. (photographer)
Subject names:
Blake, Eugene Carson, 1906-1985., Delta Ministry of Mississippi., Religious News Service--Archives., Spike, Robert W. (Robert Warren)
Topics:
Civil rights movements--Mississippi--20th century., Civil rights--Mississippi--20th century.
Geographic subjects:
Jackson (Miss.)
URL:
https://digital.history.pcusa.org/islandora/object/islandora:7199

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