Jesse L. Douglas, Aide to King in Marches From Selma, Is Dead at 90

October 14, 2025 | Source: Monroe Gallery of Photography

Via The New York Times

Oct. 11, 2025 


A lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. and a fellow preacher, he played a vital role in organizing voting-rights protests in 1965 that began with “Bloody Sunday.”


black and white photograph of men in black suits and white shirts: The Rev. Jesse L. Douglas, second from right, joined an Alabama voting-rights march in 1965. With him were, from left, the Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, James Forman, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis.
Steve Schapiro: The Rev. Jesse L. Douglas, second from right, joined an Alabama voting-rights march in 1965. With him were, from left, the Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, James Forman, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis


"But Mr. Douglas, an albino with fair skin, blue eyes and blond hair, was perhaps best remembered for a widely circulated photograph by Steve Schapiro in which he is the lone pale figure among a group of Black Americans walking arm in arm as they marched in Alabama."

Full obituary

Tags: Civil Right photographs Civil Rights Martin Luther King Jr Selma march