<I>Chris and Maxine McNair</I>
date: label: Date
content: 2010; printed 2019
name: label: Photograph by
content: Platon, British, born 1968
label: Subject of
content: Chris McNair, American, 1926 - 2019
label: Subject of
content: Maxine McNair, American, 1928 - 2021
label: Subject of
content: Denise McNair, American, 1951 - 1963
label: Subject of
content: 16th Street Baptist Church, American, founded 1873
notes: label: Description
content: A black-and-white photograph of Chris and Maxine McNair, by Platon. The McNair’s are depicted holding each other in front of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama; the site where their daughter, Carol Denise McNair, was killed during the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing that took place on September 15, 1963. The photograph’s perspective is from an angle that looks up at the couple from about knee level. Chris McNair stands at the center left. Maxine stands on his proper left side. Her eyes are closed ,and face is turned, resting her head on his proper left shoulder. Her proper left hand is resting on the side of her husband’s face and his proper right hand is resting on her proper left forearm. Chris McNair is wearing a black suit with thin, white pinstripes, a white dress shirt, and a black tie with small white polka dots. His body is partially turned towards the right edge of the photograph and is looking into the distance to the right. Maxine McNair is wearing a white, long sleeve sweater, a black coat, and a fur hat. The pair are standing at the corner of the Romanesque and Byzantine style church, in front of one of the church’s two, front, twin towers. Two pairs of round top shuttered window are visible at the top of the tower, above two rectangular stained-glass windows. In the background on the left is the other tower with its pointed dome is visible. The sky appears cloudy, and the photograph is spotted with black and white speckles. The photograph has a thick white border. The edition number, [5/12], is printed in the bottom left corner. The photographer’s signature and date, [Platon 19], is handwritten in the bottom right corner. Inside the border, at the bottom center, is the photographer’s embossed mark: [PLATON ? / EDITIONED ? / PRINT ?[encircled between two bands of embossed dots]]. The back of the photograph is plain and white.
place: label: Place printed
content: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Activism
label: Topic
content: Baptist
label: Topic
content: Civil Rights
label: Topic
content: Hate crimes
label: Topic
content: Parenthood
label: Topic
content: Photography
label: Topic
content: Race discrimination
label: Topic
content: Religion
label: Topic
content: Violence
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Photographs and Still Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Platon
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2021.33.17
objectType: label: Type
content: pigment prints
label: Type
content: portraits
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Platon
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: pigment on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 19 3/4 × 14 3/16 in. (50.2 × 36.1 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (sheet): 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (matted): 22 × 28 in. (55.9 × 71.1 cm)