Here is the information from the City of Temecula:
The City of Temecula Community Services Department and the Temecula Valley Museum are proud to host the exhibition, I AM A MAN: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1960–1970 in honor of American Black History Month. This exhibition, which opens February 4, 2025 and will remain on display until March 16, 2025 can be viewed in the second-floor gallery of the Temecula Valley Museum (28314 Mercedes Street). The City of Temecula is dedicated to acknowledging the importance of this month and the poignant history of the Civil Right Movement. The 1960–1970 decade was a momentous time for the Civil Rights Movement in the American South. It was an historic decade that unleashed both hope for the future and profound change as public spaces were desegregated and as African Americans secured their right to vote. I AM A MAN: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1960–1970, displays a wide range of photographs taken by amateurs, local photojournalists, and internationally known photographers. Together, they provide a vivid visual story of the evolution of the Civil Rights Movement and shed light on the movement’s integration in daily living in the American South.
Curator William Ferris and his team collected photos taken of the Civil Rights Movement, by activists or news photographers, who documented history taking place before their eyes. Viewers of the exhibition will recognize photographs of protestors who carried signs with messages like “I AM A MAN” or other iconic images associated with the movement. Numerous other photographs have rarely been seen until now. Key events include James Meredith’s admission to the University of Mississippi, the Selma Montgomery March, the sanitation workers’ strike, Martin Luther King’s funeral, the Poor People’s Campaign, and the Mule Train. This exhibition, on loan from ExhibitsUSA, a national program of Mid-America Arts Alliance, has been adapted from an exhibition originally produced for the Pavillon Populaire in France, by the Center for Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The French exhibition was funded by the City of Montpellier and administered by Gilles Mora, director of the Pavillion Populaire. In conjunction with this exhibit, the museum will be hosting a gallery talk about the Civil Rights Movement featuring Joy Miller, a lecturer at CSU San Marcos, and current doctoral student at UC San Diego, specializing in African American History on Saturday, February 15, 2025, from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. Please contact the Temecula Valley Museum at (951) 694-6450, or visit TemeculaValleyMuseum.org, for more information on this exhibit and gallery talk. #