{"product_id":"gordon-parks-back-to-fort-scott-9783869309187","title":"Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe first African American photographer to be hired full time by Life magazine  Gordon Parks was often sent on assignments involving social issues that his white colleagues were not asked to cover. In 1950 he returned on one such assignment to his hometown of Fort Scott in southeastern Kansas: he was to provide photographs for a piece on segregated schools and their impact on black children in the years prior to Brown v. Board of Education. Parks intended to revisit early memories of his birthplace  many involving serious racial discrimination  and to discover what had become of the 11 members of his junior high school graduation class since his departure 20 years earlier. But when he arrived only one member of the class remained in Fort Scott  the rest having followed the well-worn paths of the Great Migration in search of better lives in urban centers such as St. Louis  Kansas City  Columbus and Chicago. Heading out to those cities Parks found his friends and their families and photographed them on their porches  in their parlors and dining rooms  on their way to church and working at their jobs  and interviewed them about their decision to leave the segregated system of their youth and head north. His resulting photo essay was slated to appear in Life in the spring of 1951  but was ultimately never published. This book showcases the 80-photo series in a single volume for the first time  offering a sensitive and visually arresting view of our countrys racialized history. Gordon Parks (19122006) was born into poverty and segregation in Fort Scott  Kansas. The self-taught photographer also found success as a film director  author and composer. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts and over 50 honorary degrees.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45647612805173,"sku":"ByrdShop_3869309180","price":344.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9783869309187.jpg?v=1781695720","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/gordon-parks-back-to-fort-scott-9783869309187","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}