Theodore Gaffney

Theodore Gaffney (b. 1927, Washington, D.C., USA – d. April 12, 2020) was an American photographer and photojournalist whose work documented critical moments in the civil-rights movement and U.S. history. Born into a family whose ancestors had been enslaved, Gaffney served in the U.S. Army during World War II and later became one of the first Black photographers permitted inside the White House. He was perhaps best known for an assignment he undertook for Jet Magazine in 1961: documenting the Freedom Riders as they journeyed to the Deep South to challenge racial segregation. He photographed U.S. Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson, and in 1961 traveled with the Freedom Riders to record firsthand the struggle against segregation.