Alexander McAllister Rivera Jr. was a prolific photojournalist and a foremost public relations specialist. Well-known for his long association with North Carolina Central University, his livelihood and professional career extended well beyond Durham, North Carolina. Rivera Jr. not only created a body of work that preserved critical aspects of African American and American history on the local, state, national, and international levels, he also personified the philosophies of confidentiality and anonymity essential in the field of public relations to maneuver and operate in the complex environment of national and state politics. His career allowed him to witness, report, and participate to some degree on key historical events in the early-to-mid twentieth century, provided him connections to black communities across the country, and access to some of most powerful and influential people in the United States. He had unparalleled breath concerning the emerging struggle for equality. This work will introduce Rivera Jr. - whose photojournalistic and public relations work has been ignored or underappreciated - to the historical record.
Glen Anthony Harris is associate professor in the Department of History at University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Introduction Chapter 1: The Ties That Bind: From the Wilmington Colored Educational Institute to the Wilmington Massacre Chapter 2: Absence Democracy, Life and Death are Real: The Initial Push for Social Justice Chapter 3: The Pittsburgh Courier, Epps v. Carmichael and McKissick v. Carmichael Chapter 4: Clarendon County, Brown v The Board of Education, and the Southern Odyssey. Chapter 5: Perceptions of an International Correspondent: Richard Nixon, Africa, and Europe Chapter 6: The Brilliance of Public Relations Conclusion: The Continuum of Historical Research
Glen Harris's biography of Alexander McAllister Rivera Jr. provides an engaging exploration of the life and times of the famed photographer. In addition to providing a meticulously researched history of Rivera, Harris guides the reader on a journey that will compel a deeper engagement of the backstories behind many of his iconic photographs and African American life and culture in North Carolina. This work will be a much-welcomed addition to the libraries of scholars interested in how African Americans negotiated Jim Crow America and how Rivera illuminated and interpreted these times with his camera. -- Learotha Williams, Tennessee State University
