An ongoing illustrative history study
This piece originally posted on 02/27/2026,
Black History Month 2026
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"At times, I had problems shooting in the White House. They had a little thing where they would get arm in arm and try to push me back. Once they found out that I could shoot as well as they could, they accepted me."
Born in 1914 Washington, D.C., Maurice Sorrell became enamoured of photography at a very early age --even earlier than Gordon Parks. While he never secured a college degree, he nevertheless managed to embark on a career photographing weddings and other local events, and even received some photography training in a U.S. Department of Agriculture program, and eventually even the Pentagon --though he was restricted solely to darkroom activities due to his race. Faced with limited opportunities he took the risk of going freelance in 1957.
His photos swiftly caught the attention of the Capital Press Club. Sorrell's short stature but quick-on-the-shutter talent enabled him to capture key moments at the tail end of the Eisenhower administration and the earliest days of the Kennedy administrations, as well as covering the urban riots of the 1950s and 1960s, and the pivotal march to Selma, Alabama:
https://jfk.blogs.archives.gov/2021/02/02/spotlight-on-maurice-sorrell-photographer-2/
While working for the popular Washington-based Afro-American weekly newspaper, his application for membership into the prestigious White House News Photographers Association stalled --until President Kennedy was pressured to intervene. Kennedy threatened to boycott the association's annual awards dinner, and Sorrell became the WHNPA's first Black member in 1961. A year later he began what would eventually be a 31-year career with Johnson Publications; producer of such magazines as Jet and Ebony. Over the course of his career he traveled to many countries and photographed many historical figures, to include Martin Luther King, A. Philip Randolph, and Thurgood Marshall; he also took the formal group portrait of the first Congressional Black Caucus.
In 1997 the African American Photographers' Association (also known as the Exposure Group), awarded its first Lifetime Achievement Award to Sorrell. After his death in 1998, the award was renamed to the Maurice Sorrell Lifetime Achievement Award, which continues to be given today.
Next lesson - Lesson 214: Marvel Cooke