A quest to identify two women and an infant in a Gordon Parks exhibit at the High Museum of art has yielded more photos of the Atlanta airport in 1956.
The New York Times recently asked for the public's help finding the names of the people in a photo titled "Airline Terminal, Atlanta, Georgia, 1956." Several readers responded with a link to a gallery of photos by Robert W. Kelley that give a wider view of the area Parks singled in on, as well as images from the ticket counter and tarmac. If you recognize someone in Kelley's photos, it could put the paper one step closer to its goal.
Parks' exhibit at the High showcases 40 color photos the African-American artist and filmmaker took for a Life magazine article in 1956 aimed at exposing Americans to racial segregation. The image that interests the New York Times is of an African-American woman in a maid's uniform holding a white infant while the child's mother sits nearby.
"We at Lens keep returning to this intriguing photo, which raises questions about race, class and relationships between women in the Jim Crow South. And every time we look at this rare color image, we want to know much more about these women," James Estrin wrote for the Times' Lens blog.
"So we are turning to you, dear readers, to help unravel this mystery. We particularly ask those of you who like history and research, as well as those who are just plain nosy, to help us crowd-source the stories of the people in this photo."
The baby in the photo would be about 60 years old now, and the women, if still alive, would be in their 80s or 90s.
If you have information on the Parks photo, or recognize anyone in the Kelley photos, you can comment on the Times' blog post or email them at lensnytimes@gmail.com.
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