Over 50 years ago, three siblings had their picture taken by official Black Panther Party photographer Stephen Shames. Now, that photo is on a wall at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The quest to ID the photo started after it was put on display.
Over 50 years ago, sisters Gail Jones and Jacqueline Hayes had their picture taken by official Black Panther Party photographer Stephen Shames. The sisters don't recall much about that cold December day in 1970. But Hayes does remember Shames positioning her, Jones, their brother Frederick Hayes, and their two friends, sisters Frances and Eva Phenix, for the photo."We were down in Dudley ... on some corner," Hayes said.
Gail Jones looks at a 1970 photograph by Stephen Shames of herself with her siblings and two friends, in the MFA Boston's "Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party" exhibit. The journey to identify the photo started before I even met Gail Jones. I first saw the image a week prior while touring “Comrade Sisters” with curator Karen Haas. For years, Shames captured photos of Black Panther Party members across the country — the exhibit highlights women in the Party.
Before the post on Facebook, Jones and Hayes had never seen the actual photograph. They had no way of knowing that it was up on a museum wall over 50 years after it was taken. “I'm in total shock,” Jones said. “I don't think I own a picture of me at that age.”Jones, Hayes and their brother started volunteering for the party at a time when Boston was becoming. Predominantly white neighborhoods became more and more Black over the first half of the 20th century.
Jones joined her siblings after a friend died of an overdose. It had a profound impact on her. “That was a very tough time in my life,” Jones said. “I started running with my brother and sister … And when they started going to the Black Panther Party, it was something that gave me hope again … It helped to build me back up from that devastation.”
Gail Jones standing by a 1970 photograph by Stephen Shames of herself with her siblings and two friends, in the MFA Boston's "Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party" exhibit.
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