Born in Greenville, Mississippi in 1942, D Gorton grew up in an atmosphere he describes as "legalized white supremacy." As college approached, he began to question the injustice of segregation and inequality all around him, becoming an activist and photographer at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. "I got kicked out for civil rights activity, went to the March on Washington, came back to Ole Miss, decided to start an underground newspaper, and got my head handed to me a bunch of times by the Ku Klux Klan," recalls Gorton. Then in 1969, he embarked on a road trip across the South with his friend Jeff Nightbyrd, camera in hand. While Gorton abhorred the system of supremacy that was crumbling before his eyes, he never lost patience or compassion for the blue-collar whites of the South who had been left behind by technological change after World War II. Perhaps most powerful of all are Gorton's images that documented the few southern spaces that were truly integrated—places on the edge of Southern society such as Pentecostal revivals or mental asylums. These images were not published at the time and remained undisclosed for nearly fifty years. The Briscoe Center acquired this collection of photographs last year. Join us for a presentation of Gorton's photographs of the "white South." A Q&A session will follow.

Space is limited; RSVP required. Please RSVP to briscoecenterevents@austin.utexas.edu with "D Gorton event" in the subject line.