The power of a vernacular photograph is often found in the tension between the intent of its creation and, with time and distance, the experience of viewing it. There is perhaps no clearer example of this than the mugshot. What is created to surveil, profile, categorize, or otherwise dehumanize the subject can easily transform into an iconic, instantly readable picture of defiance.

The present mugbook, a compendium of both nationally-known and local “subversives” active in the Shreveport area in the early to mid 1960s, was presumably compiled by someone in law enforcement. Though it was put together for one purpose, it now exists as something else entirely - a profoundly compelling primary object and a powerful photographic record of resistance and strength at the height of the civil rights movement.

The front cover bears an affixed caption which reads "Subversive Groups / Members of / Mug File C.I.D." and the album begins with a page showing four major Civil Rights figures: Martin Luther King Jr., NAACP president Roy Wilkins, author and editor Hunter Pitts “Jack” O’Dell, and C.O.R.E. co-founder James Farmer. Also included on this page is Reverend Harold Bethune. King and Wilkins’ photos are not actually arraignment photos, but apparently included for reference. Farmer’s mugshot was taken in Jackson, Mississippi, in the summer of 1961. Along with around three hundred other Freedom Riders who came through the city’s Greyhound Station that summer, Farmer was booked in on a “breach of peace” charge.

The next few pages also contain pictures of other well-known individuals including William G. Anderson, leader of the Georgia desegregation and voters’ rights collective known as the Albany Movement; Louisiana civil rights leader, David Dennis; and John R. “Hunter Bear” Gray, identified here as “John Salters” and known to America as “Mustard Man.” Gray, then a professor at Tougaloo College, earned his nickname because of an iconic photograph of him protesting alongside his students at a sit-in at a Woolworth’s in Jackson. The photo, taken May 28th, 1963, shows Gray and others defiantly seated at the lunch counter while counter-protestors pour salt, sugar, ketchup and mustard on their heads. Two days later, Gray was severely beaten during a protest march (evidenced here by a visible black eye and bandage on his face).

These pictures are followed by several shots of people arraigned in Shreveport in 1963, each holding up identification placards dated either “7-19-63” or “9-23-63.” Those ID’d in red ink with numbers 13-16, 27, 1F and 4F were all booked-in on July 19th because of their involvement in a pair of nonviolent sit-ins at a Woolworth’s and a Walgreens, both in Shreveport. Three juvenile demonstrators were involved, a fifteen year old girl and two sixteen year old boys (all of whom appear in the album). According to newspaper coverage from the time, because of their age, the participating adults were charged with “contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile”. Also taken in were four officials of the Direct Action Committee. Three of these four are shown in the album as well: Major Johns (an SCLC field director), Levert Taylor and Daniel Harrell, Jr.

The arrestees with the “9-23-63” date on their placards (ID numbers 18-26, 28, 2F, 5F-7F) were involved in a major incident in Shreveport’s civil rights history - the police assault on the Little Union Baptist Church and subsequent protests. On September 22nd, a march was planned in response to the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, which had happened the week before. It was to end with a memorial service at the Little Union Church. However, at the last minute, Public Safety Commissioner George D’Artois denied a permit for the march, which did not deter the nearly one thousand participants. D'Artois responded by siccing the riot squad on the peaceful demonstrators. He personally rode on horseback into the church itself, interrupting the service and violating the sacred space. He then dragged away the church’s pastor, Reverend Harry Blake, then-president of the NAACP, and nearly beat him to death.

Included in the mugbook are pictures of both Reverend Blake (#6) and Reverend Harold Bethune (#3), who is remembered exiting the Little Union Church on police orders, only to storm back in and shout, “If you want me, you have to come in here and get me!” Reverend Blake’s picture is undated but Bethune’s is dated August, 1961, and therefore we can conclude it was taken during his involvement with the Freedom Riders.

The following day, students from Booker T. Washington High School took to the streets to protest the horrific events which had transpired. They were met by more Shreveport police, who teargassed and arrested them. Like those involved with the July sit-in, a number of these brave young demonstrators are present in the album as well.

The back cover of the album has a partial title which reads “ - K Muslims” (presumably Black Muslims). And on the last few pages of the album there are ten mugshots showing Louisiana members of the Nation of Islam, most of whom were victims of another vicious assault by the L.A. police. The first person shown is Minister Troy X. Cade (later Abdul Bey Muhammad), who founded the Monroe Temple of Islam in 1959. On March 5th, 1961, one date before that on Cade’s placard, the Monroe Police Chief and 30 armed police officers stormed the temple. Men, women, and children were savagely beaten. The mob attempted to lynch Cade, hanging from the rafters by his necktie.

Afterwards, the victims of this racist attack were immediately arrested and hit with bogus charges, ranging from “disturbing the peace” to “anarchy. Cade was convicted of “attempting to overthrow the government” and was sentenced to six years in Angola. While there, a mob dragged him from his cell and tried to drown him. He miraculously survived and his conviction was then overturned.