US EditionJack Thornell, AP photographer who captured assassination attempt on James Meredith in Mississippi, dies at 86
His 1966 image of James Meredith helped define civil rights photojournalism and won the Pulitzer Prize the next year.
- Former Associated Press photographer Jack Thornell, 86, died Thursday at a hospital in Metairie, Louisiana, from complications of kidney disease, his son Jay Thornell said.
- A military snafu at Fort Monmouth led Thornell to photography instead of radio repair, launching his 40-year career with the Associated Press documenting the Civil Rights Movement.
- Thornell captured his Pulitzer Prize-winning image in 1966 while covering James Meredith's 'March Against Fear' on Highway 51 near Hernando, Mississippi, after a shotgun blast.
- His lens documented critical historical moments, including the aftermath of Martin Luther King's assassination at Spelman College and the 1977 recapture of King's assassin, James Earl Ray.
- Reflecting in a 2018 interview, Thornell described the pressure to secure photographs as his 'bread and butter,' his career's foundation. He is survived by his daughter Candy Gros and a granddaughter.
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Thornell died on Thursday in a hospital in the suburbs of Metairie, New Orleans. His career was marked by racial justice and various forms of protest against segregation.
Rutland Herald
AP photographer Jack Thornell's iconic images of civil rights and beyond
Former Associated Press photographer Jack Thornell 's Pulitzer Prize-winning picture of a shotgun-felled James Meredith looking back toward his would-be assassin on a Mississippi highway in 1966 became an enduring image of the Civil Rights Movement.
Associated Press News
Jack Thornell, AP photographer who captured assassination attempt on James Meredith, dies at 86
Jack Thornell, the Associated Press photographer whose picture from an assassination attempt on James Meredith in 1966 won a Pulitzer Prize, has died at age 86.
Jack Thornell, AP photographer who captured 1966 assassination attempt on James Meredith, dies at 86
By Kevin McGill and Jeff Amy, Associated Press | Originally published by Mississippi Today Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. NEW ORLEANS — Former Associated Press photographer Jack Thornell, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning picture of a shotgun-felled James Meredith looking back toward his would-be assassin on a…
AP photographer Jack Thornell’s iconic images of civil rights and beyond
Former Associated Press photographer Jack Thornell ‘s Pulitzer Prize-winning picture of a shotgun-felled James Meredith looking back toward his would-be assassin on a Mississippi highway in 1966 became an enduring image of the Civil Rights Movement. Thornell died Thursday at a hospital in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie from complications from kidney disease. He...
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