Images Of The

Civil Rights Movement

WATERBURY — “Lest We Forget: Images of the Civil Rights Movement” will open at the Mattatuck Museum Arts & History Center on Thursday, January 15, with a reception at 5:30 pm. The exhibition presents the work of Woodbury artist Robert Templeton (1929-1991) in a compelling chronicle of the struggle for equal rights, which took the artist two decades to complete.

The exhibition includes portraits of such Civil Rights leaders as Ralph Abernathy, Asa Philip Randolph, Rosa Parks, Benjamin Mays, Ralph McGill, Hubert Humphrey, Roy Wilkins, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bill Cosby. Curators hope it will remind visitors to become more determined not to forget the struggle, the leadership of the individuals portrayed, and the artist committed to preserving their memory.

Robert Templeton is perhaps best known for his portrait of President Jimmy Carter, displayed at the National Portrait Gallery. His consistent efforts, however, were toward visually documenting the Civil Rights Movement in an exhibition that he and Benjamin Mays named “Lest We Forget.”

Templeton’s commitment to this project stemmed from his experiences in Detroit during the 1967 riots. There, by coincidence, he made sketches for a cover of Time magazine and was so greatly moved by what he witnessed that he devoted a large portion of his career to portraits of the people who personified the struggle. Most of the portraits were sketched from the life. However, Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated just a short time before he was scheduled to sit for his portrait.

“Lest We Forget: Images of the Civil Rights Movement” will be on view Friday, January 16, through Sunday, March 22. The public is invited to join the artist’s widow, Leonore Templeton, for the opening reception on January 15.

The Mattatuck Museum Arts & History Center located at 144 West Main Street, Waterbury. It is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday, noon to 5 pm, with convenient, free parking located directly behind the museum on Park Place.

For more information about this exhibition, the museum’s collections, and other programs, call 203-753-0381 extension 10 or visit MattatuckMuseum.org.