On Sunday, April 22, the Jacob Sears Memorial Library in East Dennis, MA, hosted a talk by artist Pamela Chatterton-Purdy. Ms. Chatterton-Purdy told stories of heroism and sacrifice in the struggle for racial equality in the US, illustrated with images from her acclaimed series of
art works titled Icons of the Civil Rights Movement.
Pamela Chatterton-Purdy has been involved with social justice for her entire career. In her retirement following 30-plus years of teaching, she created the series of icons and its traveling exhibition, which has been hosted to date by more than 20 colleges and universities around the country. In January 2009, the show traveled to Washington for the Inauguration of President Obama.
The icon depicted below memorializes the story of Jonathan Daniels, a young seminarian in
Cambridge, MA, who traveled to the South in the 1960s. When a man aimed his gun at Ruby Sales, a 16-year-old girl, Jonathan threw her aside and took the bullet.