Photographs and stories that changed the world

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pennsylvania

Roller Skating and the Black Freedom Movement

Ledger Smith roller skated 700 miles from Chicago to Washington, D.C. in August 1963 to join the March on Washington. His journey, supported by the NAACP, drew national media attention and was an act of resistance against segregation and racism.

Jazz band performing with Ahmad Jamal on piano, Jon Morris on trombone, Harold 'Brushes' Lee on drums, Horace Turner on trumpet, John Foster on saxophone, and Sam Hurt (cut off on right) on trombone, in stage in front of sparkled curtain, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1945.

Pittsburgh’s Jazz Hotspots

Pittsburgh’s segregated Hill District became a hub of jazz and Black culture. Charles “Teenie” Harris, the renowned photographer and chronicler of Black life, captured it all.