New York, NY - American Legacy magazine publisher Rodney Reynolds was reluctant to place mug shots of African-Americans on the cover of the new Fall issue because of the disproportionate amount of negative images of blacks already in the media today, but after some consideration, changed his mind. The mugshots and portraits were those of Freedom Riders, who in 1961 were arrested for attempting to desegregate interstate travel in the South. As Reynolds states in the publisher's letter, "these individuals wore his or her mug shot as a badge of honor, with a sense of pride." Photographer Eric Etheridge had also been stirred by the images when he saw them on an online archive, and decided to find out what happened to the everyday people turned activists, the stories behind them can be seen in Stepping Back Into the Frame (p. 36).

IN THE ISSUE

The Search for Nero Hawley (p.16)
For decades Hugh Price's family relentlessly searched for clues of its black patriot ancestor who fought in the Revolutionary War. Then a visit by Price--a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League--to an exhibit of African-American ephemera yielded the find a lifetime--a rare artifact that provided the missing link in the chain that connected them all.

Art Haven in the Woods (p. 26)
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, which was founded by a group of white artists, has seen the likes of Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and Elizabeth Catlett and a breathtaking list of artists of color grace its studios. Since the mid-1940s the art school in rural Maine has provided the perfect environment to hone their talents.

...The Trouble Reign of the Emperor Jones (p. 48)
A 75-year-old film featuring Paul Robeson stirred controversy in, yet his role was considered his greatest ever. The Emperor Jones depicted Robeson, known for his charisma, as a tyrannical Haitian ruler who eventually faces demons from his past. As disquieting today as it was decades ago, the film is worth a closer look.

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