R.C. Hickman

R.C. Hickman (born Rufus Cornelius Hickman; 1922 – December 1, 2007) was an American photographer, photojournalist and circulation manager, known for his photographs of the Civil Rights Movement. Hickman's work includes documenting the Mansfield school desegregation incident, as well as the visitation of people such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Ella Fitzgerald in Dallas, Texas. For many decades he worked as a photographer for the Dallas Star Post (an African-American-owned newspaper ) as well as freelancing for Jet, Ebony and an array of other African-American magazine publications.

The publication of Hickman's book, Behold the People (1994), highlights the many photographs taken by Hickman during the time of the Civil Rights movements. Hickman's work tends to convey the everyday life of African-American citizens during the Civil Rights Movement era, specifically documenting subjects such as schools, universities, clubs and restaurants.

World War II Hickman was drafted to the U.S Army on the outset of World War II.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Hickman spent much of his photographic career working for The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which was at the forefront of the American Civil Rights movement during the 1930s and 1940s. Hickman's work at the organisation was to be used for evidence in numerous cases and events for racial justice, specifically regarding the everyday treatment of African-American individuals. This particular visit was at the Good Street Baptist Church on 22 April 1956. Moreover, Hickman was the main photographer present during an NAACP meeting on 22 September 1956, in which Thurgood Marshall and W. J. Durham, both African American justice lawyers, were speaking. This particular example demonstrated the differences in teaching facilities of science and biology departments. Hickman was assigned to photograph a mock lynching at the school in which Hickman documented the poor state of the segregated schools, when he was pursued by individuals involved in the lynching and had to flee the scene. The pursuit continued from Mansfield until Hickman reached Fort Worth. Cover of Hickman's book Behold the people: R.C. Hickman's photographs of Black Dallas, 1949–1961

Behold the People by Hickman Behold the People: R.C. Hickman's Photographs of Black Dallas 1949–1961, was published by The Briscoe Centre for American History, the University of Texas, in 1994. The book compiles images from Hickman's time documenting Dallas' Civil Rights Movement, donated to the university in 1985. thumb A Speed Graphic Camera, similar to that used by R.C. Hickman Hickman's photography tends to take a form of displaying the everyday lives of African American individuals in an environment of injustice, whether this is at night clubs, schools, universities or at restaurants. This form of photography conveys transparency in the life of these individuals, demonstrating a “naked truth” that illustrates the everyday struggles of African Americans in this era. Much of Hickman's work also demonstrates contrast and juxtaposition through its portrayal of the life of normal citizens in African American communities, when compared to the conditions experienced by white communities. This style of juxtaposition is seen in Hickman's documentation of school facilities when he was working on the Dallas School Segregation case. The style of photography adopted by Hickman has since become important in recounting the breadth of the Civil Rights Movement. By demonstrating the day-to-day struggles of African American communities, photography historians have argued that they provide "a more inclusive and nuanced appreciation of the diversity of [Civil Rights Movement] participants and their activities."

Annette Strauss and Steve Bartlett, two former mayors of Dallas, have also given Hickman praise for his work in photography and photojournalism, along with the Dallas/Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists.

Exhibitions and archives Since his retirement, much of Hickman's work has become available through an array of archives, such as the Briscoe Center for American History, which has been set up by the University of Texas. Beginning on 19 June 2015, photographs from Behold the People were put on display for the public of Dallas to observe.

The Struggle for Justice: Four Decades of Civil Rights Photography, is another exhibition that was introduced in 2017 to demonstrate both the hardships and successes of the Civil Rights Movement era. This exhibition features Hickman, along with other Civil Rights photographers such as Charles Moore and Flip Schulke, focusing on issues such as “signs of segregation”, “organizations and leaders” of the movement, and “the risks and threat of violence that civil rights activists faced”.

Hickman's work was included in the 2025 exhibition Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985 at the National Gallery of Art.

Death Hickman died on December 1, 2007, in his home in Oak Cliff, Dallas. He was aged 85.

Publications Behold the People: R.C. Hickman's Photographs of Black Dallas, 1949–1961. Barker Texas History Center Series. Texas State Historical Association, 1995.