Gordon Parks

Gordon Parks (1912-2006) is most famous for being the first black movie director in Hollywood. But before he made movies and wrote books, he was a poor African American looking for work. When he bought a camera, his life changed forever.

He taught himself how to take pictures, and before long, people noticed. His success as a fashion photographer landed him a job working for the government. In Washington, DC, Gordon went looking for a subject, but what he found was segregation.

He and others were treated differently because of the color of their skin. Gordon wanted to take a stand against the racism he observed. With his camera in hand, he found a way. (From Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America).

Gordon Parks wrote twenty books during his lifetime including four autobiographies, and works of poetry and photography. These materials are part of the Gordon Parks Collection that is housed in Special Collections, Pittsburg State University (PSU), Kansas.

He was the subject of the 2023 Gene DeGruson Lecture at PSU.