R.C. Hickman

Hickman was drafted to the U.S Army on the outset of World War II.[4] His actions in the War proved important in his development of an interest in photography, guided by his role as an Army photographer, which allowed him to learn the functions of cameras and develop his personal style.[4] Many skills he learned during this time were taught to him by other soldiers around him, particularly during his time spent in Japan.[2]

Following the end of World War II, Hickman returned to Texas and studied at the Southwest School of Photography and Mortuary Science, expanding his theoretical understanding of the art whilst beginning to enter the photography industry, working in a darkroom at Hall Gentry Studio.[2]

Hickman spent time in numerous roles across the photojournalism industry, including overseeing distribution of newspapers in his role as a circulation manager, for the Dallas Star Post.[7] This role involved touring many national newspaper companies across the United States, such as the Los Angeles Sentinel.[7] He spent 12 years in this role at the Dallas Star Post, which allowed him to gain an important understanding of the journalism industry, and further his photography skills, also providing photographic services to the newspaper to use for coverage in articles.[2]

Along with his time spent at the Dallas Star Post, Hickman provided freelance photography for many other local Dallas newspapers, including the Dallas Times Herald and the Dallas Express, as well as providing his services more broadly to the Kansas City Call.[2] Hickman also spent time working in sales of newspapers and advertising, utilising the skills he acquired selling papers at a young age.[5]

An example of Jet Magazine front cover, for the February 14, 1952 issue.

Many of Hickman's photographs were used in an array of African-American Magazine publications, used as either lifestyle photographs or for Civil Rights articles.[4] There were very few African American photographers that worked professionally during the Civil Rights movement in Dallas, however, magazines such as Jet, and its closely related Ebony Magazine, which Hickman worked for, had a large proportion of African American photojournalists, giving Hickman the rare opportunity to advance his career.[8]

Hickman spent much of his photographic career working for The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which was at the forefront of the American Civil Rights movement during the 1930s and 1940s.[9] Hickman's work at the organisation was to be used for evidence in numerous cases and events for racial justice, specifically regarding the everyday treatment of African-American individuals.[2]

R.C Hickman photographed numerous notable individuals during their visitations to Dallas, Texas. This included the visitation of Martin Luther King Jr, in 1956.[10] This particular visit was at the Good Street Baptist Church on 22 April 1956. Moreover, Hickman was the main photographer present during an NAACP meeting on 22 September 1956, in which Thurgood Marshall and W. J. Durham, both African American justice lawyers, were speaking.[10]

A link can be made between much of Hickman's work in Dallas and a Texas colleague, Calvin Littlejohn, who photographed many similar events in the city of Fort Worth. Littlejohn and Hickman documented very similar events in their respective cities, as many of the notable individuals would tour both cities.[10]

Hickman also documented individuals such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Joe Louis and Ella Fitzgerald on numerous occasions.[2]

During his time with the NAACP, Hickman was involved in the documentation of the Dallas School Segregation Court Case in 1954, named the Brown vs Board of Education case.[2] The case that Hickman was involved in, and on many occasions called to testify on in court, brought to light the inequalities of school segregation and inequalities in Dallas.[4] Specifically, the process in which Hickman would capture the disparities between local segregated schools can be seen in the comparison between Booker T. Washington High School, a school for African-American students, and Woodrow Wilson High School, a school for white Americans.[5] This particular example demonstrated the differences in teaching facilities of science and biology departments.[5]

On August 31, whilst documenting evidence of segregation inequalities for the NAACP, Hickman became involved in an incident in Mansfield, Texas, regarding the desegregation of the Mansfield High School in 1956, in which between 300 and 400 individuals were protesting desegregation.[11][12] Hickman was assigned to photograph a mock lynching at the school in which Hickman documented the poor state of the segregated schools, when he was pursued by individuals involved in the lynching and had to flee the scene. The pursuit continued from Mansfield until Hickman reached Fort Worth.[2] Pursuits and acts of violence such as this became commonplace for photographers and photojournalists during the Civil Rights Movement, with Hickman, along with others such as Charles Moore and Flip Schulke, experiencing backlash whilst attempting to document events.[13]

Cover of Hickman's book Behold the people: R.C. Hickman's photographs of Black Dallas, 1949–1961

Hickman used a Speed Graphic camera to take many of his photographs, and the archives of his work are generally 4×5 film negatives.[15]

A Speed Graphic Camera, similar to that used by R.C. Hickman

Hickman's photography tends to take a form of displaying the everyday lives of African American individuals in an environment of injustice, whether this is at night clubs, schools, universities or at restaurants.[16] This form of photography conveys transparency in the life of these individuals, demonstrating a “naked truth” that illustrates the everyday struggles of African Americans in this era.[17] Much of Hickman's work also demonstrates contrast and juxtaposition through its portrayal of the life of normal citizens in African American communities, when compared to the conditions experienced by white communities. This style of juxtaposition is seen in Hickman's documentation of school facilities when he was working on the Dallas School Segregation case.[5]

This particular style of photography that Hickman tended towards is unique to the photographic trends of this era. Many photographers during this time illustrated protests and acts of violence in the effort for racial equality, however, Hickman's portrayal of everyday life is a less prevalent theme.[18] The style of photography adopted by Hickman has since become important in recounting the breadth of the Civil Rights Movement. By demonstrating the day-to-day struggles of African American communities, photography historians have argued that they provide "a more inclusive and nuanced appreciation of the diversity of [Civil Rights Movement] participants and their activities."[18]

Behold the People has received numerous responses from individuals regarding its portrayal of the Dallas Civil Rights Movement. Barbara Jordan, an American lawyer and congresswoman, stated that "these are images of the ordinary lives of extraordinary people who succeeded in spite of all the obstacles in their path, and who eventually demanded and, in important ways, won their rights."[14]