Clotye Murdock Larsson
Clotye Murdock Larsson (born Clotye Marnell Murdock; July 25, 1928 - April 14, 2009) was an American journalist.
Life and career
Larsson studied at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Fisk University, Wayne State University and University of Wisconsin. She was a journalist at Michigan Chronicle before joining Jet and Ebony, where she worked as an associate editor from 1951 to 1958.[1]
Larsson is best known for being the lone female reporter covering the Emmett Till trial (J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant murder trial) for Ebony magazine in 1955 alongside reporters Simeon Booker, Moses Newson and photographer David Jackson.[2] She later published two articles in Ebony related to the Emmett Till case: “Land of the Till Murder,” in 1956, and “Land of the Till Murder Revisited,” in 1986.
In popular culture
Larsson was portrayted by actress Rolonda Watts[3] in the 2022 play That Summer in Sumner[4] (of the Till trilogy) at Mosaic Theater Company.[5]
Larsson was portrayted by Sharo Perry[6] in Women of the Movement, an American historical drama miniseries that premiered on ABC on January 6, 2022.
Books
- Marriage across the Color Line. (1965) Johnson Publishing Company ISBN 978-0-87485-014-7.
Further reading
- Hon såg Mississippi brinna[7] - Interview for Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish)
- Educating the Pekinese[8] - ETC: A Review of General Semantics Vol. 11, No. 2 (WINTER 1954),
References
- ^ "Backstage". Ebony. 41 (4). Johnson_Publishing_Company: 22. 2023-09-28. ISSN 0012-9011. Retrieved 28 September 2023 – via Google Books.
Two of the standout Black women journalists of that time were Era Bell Thompson, then co-managing editor of Ebony and now retired, and Clotye Murdock, a recruit from the Black Michigan Chronicle who got her schooling at Chicago's Roosevelt University, Fisk, Wayne State in Detroit and the University of Wisconsin. We say all of this to get to the woman pictured above. Clotye Murdock worked as an associate editor for Ebony from 1951 until 1958 and compiled a work record that few have matched. She left the U.S.and has lived the past 24 years in Sweden as Mrs. Clotye Murdock Larsson, wife of a Swedish businessman.
- ^ "The Photo That Changed the Civil Rights Movement". Time. 2016-07-10. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
- ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2023-09-26.https://www.instagram.com/p/CjjsGKmOQGn/
- ^ The Till Trilogy is a series of plays by noted playwright Ifa Bayeza that reflect on the life, death, and legacy of Emmett Till. https://mosaictheater.org/till-trilogy
- ^ Murray, Olivia (17 October 2022). "Review: The Till Trilogy at Mosaic Theater Company". Broadway World. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
We also get the perspective from those not directly involved with the case - journalists David "Jax" Jackson (played by Vaughn Ryan Midder), Clotye Murdock (played by Rolonda Watts), and Simeon Booker (played by Jaysen Wright). These people are not just journalists looking for a story though, they want to find the truth so that justice can be brought against Emmett's murderers.
- ^ Pepper, Bobby (March 20, 2021). "Mississippi siblings contribute to Civil Rights TV series".
- ^ Neuman, Ricki (2005-06-23). "Hon såg Mississippi brinna". Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
- ^ Olar, Jared (May 24, 2019). "Entertaining the Pekinese".
The article, entitled "Educating the Pekinese" and written by Clotye Murdock, associate editor of Ebony magazine, sheds a revealing and edifying light on the racial attitudes of the residents of the then-all-white city of Pekin.