Library displays Columbus photographer’s work from 1910s-1960s

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The work of photographer O.N. Pruitt of Columbus was on display at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library.

The public library hosted an event displaying the work of Pruitt, a Columbus photographer from the 1910s to the 1960s.

Pruitt is known for taking photographs of African-American people during the Jim Crow era, a time of racial segregation. Pruitt’s photos serve as a resource to learn about this time of inequality.

The library hosted Berkley Hudson, author of “Mr. Pruitt’s Possum Town: Photographing Trouble and Resilience in the American South”, to discuss the lasting impact of Pruitt’s work.

“The collection shows a range of life through the early to mid-twentieth century in what would be considered a postage stamp of soil in Mississippi; yet in many respects what happened here emanates from throughout the South, but also the United States in terms of what was going on, in fact, even throughout the world. What’s interesting is these pictures show stories from back then but it connects with things that are going on today as well,” said Hudson.

A traveling exhibit of Pruitt’s work will be at the library through June 30.

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