Stephen Gill Spottswood: 1940 ca

Rev. Stephen Gill Spottswood, pastor of the John Wesley A. M. E. Zion Church, is shown in an undated photograph in Washington, D.C.

 

Rev. Spottswood was one of the leaders in the fight against police brutality in the city during a campaign that lasted from 1936-41. Rev. Spottswood served as a juror during a mock trial of the police department in 1937 and later presided over the funeral of two victims attended by 1,500 in 1941, saying, “This is not a funeral service, it is a mass meeting, protesting this occurrence.”

 

For more images related to the police brutality campaign in Washington, D.C. from 1936-40, see flic.kr/s/aHsjELBJ62

 

For more images related to the 1941 police brutality campaign in Washington, D.C., see, flic.kr/s/aHsjEKGiLx

 

For an article on the Washington, D.C. campaign against police brutality from 1936-41, see washingtonspark.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/shootings-by-dc-...

 

Photo: Scurlock Studio, courtesy of the Archives Center at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

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