Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

My father was city editor at the "Boston Herald" at the time of some segregation issues in the city of Boston. He assigned Stanley Forman to a photography shoot at a demonstration. This picture is one that Stanley took as a consequence of an altercation in front of the City Hall. It won a Pulitzer Prize. He won two Pulitzer Prizes, and both times he was assigned to take the photographs by my father. I'm very proud of that.

APPRAISER

Well, this photo is one of the iconic photographs of America, of the Civil Rights Movement. It was taken in April of 1976. It depicts racial conflict in Boston around the school busing issue. This is Boston City Hall Plaza. There had just been a rally with a Boston city councilor named Louise Day Hicks, who didn't want busing. Didn't want to integrate the schools at all.

Correct. APPRAISER

And she had riled the crowd up.

GUEST

Yes.

APPRAISER

So they had, sort of coming out of the City Hall and they were heading towards the federal courthouse to protest there. The man in the photograph, his name is Ted Landsmark.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

And he just happened to be going to a meeting. He was also, happened to be a civil rights lawyer. One of the protesters picked up the American flag and ran at him with it. Stanley captured it. Now, the title of this photograph is "Soiling of Old Glory."

GUEST

Correct.

APPRAISER

Ted Landsmark ended up having his nose broken. The police pulled him out of there. Once this image appeared, and it went nationwide, then people started taking a lot more note, and it really pushed people to really start dealing with it. It was a terrible scene in Boston. It's an absolutely fabulous photo. I have not seen many signed copies turn up, but I would say conservatively, on a retail basis, $2,000 to $3,000.

GUEST

Really?

APPRAISER

Really. I mean, it's such an iconic photo, it's fabulous.

GUEST

I appreciate it, thank you very much. (people talking in background)