Craig Swanson, 61
Location: Pleasant Prairie, WI
Interview facilitated by The Kenosha News: Ken Dowell, publisher; Delia Chiapetta, operations manager; Ben Counterman, media services specialist
In March 1965, during the peak of civil rights protests, Craig Swanson says he was nowhere near Selma, Alabama, either geographically or culturally. He was attending elementary school in a small town in Michigan's upper peninsula, a place with very little racial diversity. Yet, he says, the grainy images of civil rights marches he saw on television inspired a lifetime of learning.
"It might seem strange that someone with my background would be so interested in issues of race," Craig says. "But I think my cultural isolation actually perpetuated that fascination. Things going on in the south were undeniably important, but they were also light years removed from anything I had ever encountered or experienced."
Watch as Craig shares why he's devoted his life to documenting the "foot soldiers" of the Civil Rights Movement.
Hear more stories from people who were at the ground level of the civil rights marches
