'Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom' 60 years later

Untitled photo by Lee Friedlander in the show "Let Us March On: Lee Friedlander and the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom,'' at the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, through July 9.

The Yale University Art Gallery is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom with photographs by artist Lee Friedlander. 

''Let Us March On'' celebrates the thousands of activists who united in front of the Lincoln Memorial on May 17, 1957, the third anniversary of the Supreme Court decision  in Brown v. Board of Education, which  officially banned racial segregation in schools. But such segregation continued well into the '60s and beyond.

Mr. Friedlander, only 22 at the time, took pictures of such prominent figures as Martin Luther King, Jr., Ella Baker, Harry Belafonte, Mahalia Jackson and Rosa Parks and many other demonstrators and participants.

''Let Us March On'' features high-quality gelatin prints and displays the frustration about racial injustice and demand for equality still present today. Addressing such issues as racial violence and inequality, among other topics, Mr. Friedlander's photos offer a remembrance of America's past and an inspiration for today.