WITNESSarchive

W–008 · Documentary photograph and sources

The Walk to School

Dorothy Geraldine Counts was fifteen when she became the only Black pupil at Harding High. On 4 September 1957, four formerly all-white schools in Charlotte admitted Black children for the first time. A crowd of white teenagers surrounded Dorothy on her way to the Harding building.

1. The walk to Harding High

Dorothy Counts walks to school through a crowd of white teenagers in Charlotte, 4 September 1957. Photograph by Douglas Martin, United Press / Library of Congress.
Dorothy Counts walks to school through a crowd of white teenagers in Charlotte, 4 September 1957. Photograph by Douglas Martin, United Press / Library of Congress.
Provenance and sources for frame 1

Displayed file: 4452 × 5656 pixels. Full image record in Russian.

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According to the Library of Congress, people threw rubbish, sticks and small stones at her. Walking beside her was a man whom World Press Photo tentatively identifies as Dr Edwin Tompkins, a family friend and teacher at Johnson C. Smith University. The harassment continued inside: pupils shoved Dorothy and spat in her food. When her brother came to collect her for lunch, the rear window of his car had been broken. After four school days, her parents withdrew her from Harding, fearing for her safety.

2. Inside the school

Dorothy Counts in a Harding High classroom in 1957. The International Center of Photography describes the scene as hostile taunting. Photograph by Stan Wayman.
Dorothy Counts in a Harding High classroom in 1957. The International Center of Photography describes the scene as hostile taunting. Photograph by Stan Wayman.
Provenance and sources for frame 2

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Douglas Martin photographed Dorothy’s walk to the school. His pictures appeared in American and foreign newspapers; one won World Press Photo of the Year for 1957. James Baldwin later remembered the image with anger and shame: “Someone of us should have been there with her.”

Dorothy completed her education and worked with children and families. Half a century later she met Woody Cooper, one of the teenagers caught in Martin’s photograph. Cooper apologised. Afterwards, they spoke together in public about the history of the image.

3. A closer view

Dorothy Counts sits among Harding High pupils while a boy in a checked shirt leans towards her shoulder. Charlotte, 1957. Photographer unidentified; Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.
Dorothy Counts sits among Harding High pupils while a boy in a checked shirt leans towards her shoulder. Charlotte, 1957. Photographer unidentified; Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.
Provenance and sources for frame 3

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In 2007, Harding awarded Dorothy Counts an honorary diploma. That year the school board also voted to name its media centre after her, in the very school where four days of abuse had ended her attendance.

4. A classroom conversation

Dorothy Counts discusses her studies with Betty Broom and Jean King, according to the International Center of Photography caption. Charlotte, 1957. Photograph by Stan Wayman.
Dorothy Counts discusses her studies with Betty Broom and Jean King, according to the International Center of Photography caption. Charlotte, 1957. Photograph by Stan Wayman.
Provenance and sources for frame 4

Displayed file: 700 × 557 pixels. Full image record in Russian.

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