The development of A Lens for Freedom includes a great number of people. In particular, we would like to thank the volunteers from the Freedom Summer Project who have shared their stories and experiences that aided our research process, including Mark Levy, Patti Miller, Lenray Gandy and Richard Momeyer. Additional appreciation is extended to Maura Smith, Steve Schapiro’s widow; Jacqueline Johnson, Miami University Archivist; Herbert Randall, Freedom Summer Project photographer; and Bruce Watson, author of Freedom Summer: The Savage Season of 1964 That Made Mississippi Burn and Made America a Democracy.
We wish to extend our gratitude to The Steve Schapiro Estate, Maura Smith, Richard and Susan Momeyer, and to FotoFocus Cincinnati for their generous support of this exhibition.
This exhibition would not have been possible without the dedicated work of Catherine Lammersen, Curatorial Intern. Lammersen’s in-depth research and investigation brought great insights to each photograph and helped to contextualize the images within as relating to the Freedom Summer Project and the Civil Rights Movement.
A Lens for Freedom is dedicated to the late Steve Schapiro, who recently passed away in January 2022. His legacy of photographs and a commitment to social justice will long be remembered.