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A rare historically significant original 1956 B/W photograph featuring Lt. George W. Lee (1894-1976), Winthrop Rockefeller (1912-1973) andthewidow of the first Civil Rights martyrRosebud Lee (1915-1995) and(likely) Sara Roberta Church (1915-1995). Photo was likely taken at the 1956 Republican National Convention. This image captures the \"Black and Tan\" Republican Leadership of the GOP. By 1956, the \"Lily-Whites\" were winning the battle for control of the Southern GOP. This photograph captures a rare moment where the \"Black and Tan\" leaders—supported by the wealth of Winthrop Rockefeller and the moral weight of Rosebud Lee—made a final, successful stand to put Civil Rights into the official party platform.
Pictured Left to Right:
Lt. George W. Lee: The \"Czar of Beale Street\" and a legendary Memphis power broker. He was a featured speaker at the 1956 RNC, fighting to maintain Black leadership in the South.
Winthrop Rockefeller: The future reformist Governor of Arkansas. In 1956, he served as the financial and political anchor for the integrated wing of the Southern GOP.
Rosebud Lee:After her husband\'s assassination in 1955, Rosebud became a national symbol of the voting rights struggle and was frequently hosted by political titans like Rockefeller and Lt. Lee at high-profile GOP and NAACP events.Her presence at the \'56 convention served as a powerful moral demand for federal voting rights protections.
SaraRoberta \"Velma\" Church: The first Black woman on the Tennessee GOP State Executive Committee and a key liaison to the Eisenhower administration.
8\" x 10\" press style B/W photo has significant creasing, frayed edges, clipped corners and staining on back
Note: The photo originated from the estate of George W. Lee. In 1919 George W. Lee was awarded the French Croix de guerre medal for bravery.Lee was the First African American to have a portrait in the Rotunda of the Tennessee State Capitol. Lee was also the first African American to have a US post office named after him. He was the Senior Vice President of Atlanta Life Insurance Company at the time of his death in 1976.
