Boulder's Dairy Arts Center Hosting Once-In-A-Lifetime Exhibit Of Photos From The Civil Rights Movement

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4)- On Monday Jan. 17, Coloradans will be celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., along with the rest of the nation. If you are looking for a good place to learn about history and the struggle for civil rights, the Dairy Art Center in Boulder has a temporary photo exhibit that you might want to check out.

The Boulder Branch of the NAACP and the Dairy Arts Center are presenting the Withers Collection Gallery, an exhibition of over 100 historical photographs of the Civil Rights Movement from the Withers Museum & Gallery in Memphis, Tennessee. Ernest Withers, is one of the foremost Black photographers documenting the lives of African Americans across the South in the 1950s and 60s.

"We're just super excited to bring our community together," said Annett James. The president of the Boulder Branch of the NAACP."

She says Withers tells a story with his historical photos. "He captured the black experience," she said. "Civil rights movement, arts and culture, sports. It's just incredible."

She says this may be the only opportunity Coloradans may get to see these photos without traveling to Memphis.

"Pictures tell the story so it is a glimpse of history at a moment in time. When I see them, I think about people being engaged in righteousness," said James.

She also says that even though they are portraits of the past, they also contain a lesson for the present and the future.

"I think that when we think of Dr. King… to build that beloved community, all of us need to take responsibility and be obligated to stand for righteousness."

If you can't make it to Boulder to see the exhibit on Monday you have plenty of opportunities to catch it before it leaves town. It's running through February 27th.