LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Every photograph tells a story, but newly-discovered photos are revealing new details about Lansing’s civil rights history.
The nearly 60-year-old photos show student journalists protesting at a 1968 George Wallace rally. At the time, the former Alabama governor, Wallace, was running as an independent in the presidential race. The photos were largely forgotten until now.
The photos show part of the history of The Westside News, the first Black newspaper in Lansing. Student photographer Jay Cassidy took the photos for The Michigan Daily — but they were never published. The Greater Lansing Historical Society found the photos in a University of Michigan archive, which they used as a part of their “Let Freedom Ring!” exhibit on freedom of speech for America’s 250th year as a country.
The photos depict the civil rights movement in Lansing and the country as a whole, with Lansing being the center for many protests and marches. Decades later, local resident Kenneth Turner visited the Historical Society of Greater Lansing’s new exhibit. Turner instantly recognized his former high school classmates in the picture…