Eighty-year-old Ernest C. Withers has taken 6 million pictures, most documenting the Civil Rights history of Memphis, but he is in no sense of the word “retired.”
Withers follows his work all over the country, speaking about civil rights and his photographs. He spoke at The University of Memphis Sept. 25 in a lecture sponsored by Pi Sigma Alpha, the Student Activities Council, and African and African American Studies.
However, according to Withers, his most important work that he is doing today is not touring or speaking; it is still taking pictures.
Withers said he entered his bank recently, and a teller had told one of the security guards who he was. Withers said the security guard had nothing but great compliments for him, and walked him to his car. Two days later, the security guard was shot. Withers said he took a few pictures of the guard for his family in remembrance.
“He was so nice to me, walked me out to my car, and two days later he’s gone,” said Withers. “I thought, I have to go and take his picture.”
Withers, who was raised in Memphis, said that he has many memories of the city, and the U of M, and how they have changed.
Withers said his father was a mailman who delivered mail to The U of M. According to Withers, the then-president of The U of M would call his father “mail boy,” but his father would never say anything about it to the president.
At home, however, Withers said his father would comment that being the president of a university, and his old age, he should have been able to see that he was no “boy.”
When Withers was a child, he said, he would ride bus for 7 cents to the area where The U of M now sits.
“Our father always took us to the back of the bus, but we didn’t know why,” Withers said. “When we’d ride alone, we’d sit up front, because we didn’t know until the driver told us,” Withers said.
Withers was a shoeshine boy in Memphis when the radio announced the attack on Pearl Harbor. He registered at Central High, which at the time was still segregated, and joked that it was “the first integrated class of Central High.”
As for his opinion of civil rights, he said he believes that “you must have a separate opinion stronger than all of the other influences in your life.”
Withers photographed for several publications, including the Chicago Defender. He was drafted into WWII, and was one of Memphis’ first nine African-American policemen. Withers has been married to his high school sweetheart for 60 years, and his sons served in the Korean War.
“The great spirit of living in America is to take hold of the great American dollar,” said Withers, who said that despite America’s flaws, it still offers a lot for everyone.
“With all the separatism of America, we still have the basic laws that other people do not have.”
Withers’ photographs were used to assist in a documentary of the African-American baseball league in Memphis.
Steve Ross, U of M professor and one of the directors of the documentary, presented an award in commemoration to Withers.
Ross said Memphis was one of the last cities to make a documentary about its African-American baseball league. The documentary about the Memphis league was able to show more of what the league meant to the city than any other city’s documentary because of Withers’ photographs. Over 200 of Withers’ still images were used in the film, according to Ross.
“Ernest Withers was essential to the film,” said Ross. “New York, Pittsburgh... they didn’t have Ernest Withers to capture what was going on with the people in the stands,” said Ross.
