Photos | Jack Thornell’s Contributions to Journalism, Civil Rights

Jack Thornell sat in a parked car along U.S. Highway 51 near Hernando, Mississippi, on June 6, 1966, camera in hand as he awaited the pilgrimage of James Meredith, the Black man who integrated the University of Mississippi in 1962 and who at this time was in the midst of a “March Against Fear” to encourage Black Mississippians to register to vote.

Jack Thornell, wearing blue and seated on a grey couch in a living room, speaking — Jack Thornell speaks during an interview in Harahan, La., Feb. 7, 2018. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File

Thornell, a 26-year-old photojournalist for the Associated Press, captured the haunting moment Meredith pulled himself across the pavement after a surprise shotgun blast sent him to the ground.

The photograph, which became an enduring image for the Civil Rights Movement, earned Thornell a Pulitzer Prize. He continued to work for the Associated Press until 2004. Over his 40 years with the news outlet, he covered political outings, natural disasters, crime scenes and more.

On Thursday, April 23, 2026, Jack Thornell passed away.

This gallery features some of Thornell’s most striking images of Mississippi during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s—including scenes from the Civil Rights Movement, Hurricane Camille, Ronald Reagan’s visit to Neshoba County and more.

An old black and white photo from the 1960's showing a burned station wagon in the woods surrounded by emptied cardboard boxes — The burned station wagon of three missing civil rights workers, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney, in a swampy area near Philadelphia, Miss., June 24, 1964. The bodies of the men were found later in an earthen dam. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's showing two men in suits on a downtown sidewalk, throwing punches — Alton Wayne Roberts punches CBS cameraman Laurens Pierce outside the Federal Building in Meridian, Miss., Jan. 27, 1965. Roberts, a 26-year-old salesman, was a defendant in the deaths of three civil rights workers. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

A circular white sign on the roadside reads "Citizen's Councils - States Rights - Racial Integrity" and depicts a US Flag crossed with the Confederate Flag — The influence and prestige of the white supremacist Citizens’ Council in Mississippi slipped badly between 1964 and 1965. Once supported by state funds, it no longer received anything from the state by 1965. This Citizens’ Council sign is seen across the street from the University Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi, March 22, 1965. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's of Black people marching down the road. In the foreground is a large white sign that reads 'LA-WA-CHIFO-ALOKPACAI (HEAP BIG WELCOME) TO PHILADELPHIA CAPITAL OF CHOCTAW NATION POPULATION OVER 5.000 PHILADELPHIA and NESHOBA COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE' POPULATTON OVER 5.000 PHILADELPHIA and NESHOBA COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE' — Civil rights marchers pass a “Heap Big Welcome” sign, featuring the language of the Mississippi Choctaw, on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Miss., during a memorial march for three slain civil rights workers, June 21, 1965. Some of the 60 marchers are shown taking part in the 12-mile trek to a burned-out church near Philadelphia, where services were set to be held for the three slain a year ago. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's of people marching downtown, one holding a sign that reads 'Memorial of ____' — Neshoba County Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price, left, appears to be keeping in step with demonstrators taking part in a memorial march for three civil rights workers slain a year earlier near Philadelphia, June 21, 1965. Price was charged with conspiracy in violating the three’s civil rights. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's showing hundreds of Black people marching up and down a main downtown road between "Standard Oil" and "Gulf" — About 500 Black Mississippians make a circle turn in downtown Fayette, Mississippi, Dec. 24, 1965, during a “Black Christmas” march. The march was led by Mississippi NAACP field director Charles Evers, who headed a boycott of Fayette stores. Evers said it would be a “Black Christmas” in Fayette unless officials met his demands. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An older black and white photo of James Meredith crawling by the roadside, looking behind him at a person obscured by foliage — James Meredith looks at Aubrey James Norvell, background left partially hidden behind foliage, after being shot on a road near Hernando, Miss., June 6, 1966. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

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Uniformed soldiers sand in a line in the grass as two Black girls walk down the sidewalk — Two Black women stroll past a long line of Mississippi National Guardsmen who were called out to ring the State Capitol just prior to the arrival of the Mississippi Marchers in Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday, June 26, 1966. A large force of highway patrolmen and units of the state Game and Fish Commission have also been placed on the Capitol grounds. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

James Meredith and others walk outside of the Mississippi State Capital building — James Meredith, still holding his ebony walking stick and wearing a pith helmet similar to the one he wore when he left Memphis, Tenn., June 5, steps off briskly as he leaves the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Mississippi, Sunday, June 27, 1966, after delivering his talk at a giant rally which marked the end of the Mississippi March. A State Highway Patrolman watches at right. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's of a man inspecting the damage of a smashed out rear car window — Southern Christian Leadership Conference staff member R.B. Cottenreader checks the car windows that were smashed by angry white people as he was driving with children integrating the formerly all-white Grenada High School on Sept. 13, 1966. Cottenreader said white people used walking canes to break the windows. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's showing Fannie Lou Hamer testifying in court — Fannie Lou Hamer of Sunflower County, Miss., testifies before the Senate Subcommittee on Poverty in Miss., April 10, 1967. In the background is another witness, Rev. J.C. Killingsworth. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's of James Meredith and 6 other men walking down the side of a road — With white-hatted James Meredith in the lead, a group of marchers goes down U.S. Highway 51 about five miles south of Batesville, Miss., June 25, 1967, on the second day of Meredith’s renewed march through Mississippi. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's of two white men in suits walking down a sidewalk — Sam H. Bowers Jr., left, imperial wizard of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and his attorney Travis Buckley leave the Federal building in Meridian, Mississippi on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 1967, for a lunch break. Bowers was one of 18 white men being tried on conspiracy charges in the 1964 slaying of three civil rights workers near Philadelphia, Mississippi. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's of two men in suits holding up a newspaper with the headline 'Verdict by Jury Awaited' — In this Oct. 19, 1967 photo, Neshoba County Sheriff Deputy Cecil Price holds a copy of the Meridian Star newspaper with Edgar Ray Killen as they await their verdicts in the murder trial of three civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner in Meridian, Miss. Of the 18 defendants, Price was convicted on conspiracy charges along with six other defendants. Killen walked out of federal court in 1967 because the jury could not reach a verdict. But in 2005, the former Ku Klux Klansman and one-time Baptist preacher was convicted of manslaughter in the 1964 slayings. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's showing Martin Luther King speaking to a room full of seated people — Dr. Martin Luther King recruits “Poor” for march on Washington D.C., at Batesville, Miss., on March, 19, 1968. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's showing marchers going down a road with a pair of mules — The Rev. Ralph Abernathy, foreground, leads a mule-drawn wagon at the head of the southern leg of the Poor People’s Campaign as it got underway at Mt. Beulah, Mississippi, May 6, 1968. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's showing two young boys in the debris of a hurricane wrecked gas station — Carl Wright drinks from a broken pipe amid the ruins of his father’s service station in Gulfport, Miss., in the aftermath of Hurricane Camille on Aug. 19, 1969. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's of a man looking down from a building window at the massive debris left in the street from a hurricane — In this Aug. 23, 1969 photo, Pass Christian Civil Defense Director Parnell McKay looks over the town’s main business district after hurricane Camille passed through. Camille was a Category 5 storm when it made landfall along the Mississippi coast on Aug. 17, 1969, with maximum sustained winds estimated at nearly 200 mph and a devastating storm surge. The storm caused roughly $1.4 billion in damage at the time and was blamed for 143 deaths on the Gulf Coast, 113 deaths from flooding in Virginia and three deaths in Cuba. Its maximum sustained winds reached 190 mph. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's showing a family getting their infant baptized outside in front of a hurricane-destroyed church — Father Francis O’Malley baptizes 2-month-old Ralph James Carlton Jr., as his mother, right, looks on amid the ruins of St. Thomas Catholic Church at Long Beach, Miss., on Sunday, August 24, 1969. At center are god parents, Robert Albert and Anna McLendon. The tot was baptized during outdoor services where the church stood before hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1960's showing a man in the center of a huge pile of hurricane destroyed building debris, tossing a wooden board to the side — Service station owner H.A. Torgerson moves debris in what had been the town post office, next door to his station in Waveland, Miss., Sept. 11, 1969. Hurricane Camille had devastated the area about three weeks earlier. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1970's showing two women look through an upstairs dorm window, the whole side of the building riddled with bullet holes — Students at Jackson State College peer from a window that was shot out by police on campus May 15, 1970. Two young people died as police riddled windows of a girl’s dormitory they claimed they were returning sniper fire. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1970's of a Black woman in a white wedding dress and a White man dressed as a groom, smiling together — Roger Mills and his new bride, the former Berta Linson, are all smiles as they leave the church following their wedding in Jackson, Mississippi, on August 2, 1970. The interracial marriage marked the end of the state’s anti-miscegenation laws. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1970's showing a freighter beached among huge piles of hurricane debris — The freighter Silver Hawk, seen here beached at Gulfport, Miss., on August 3, 1970, long after hurricane Camille, appears to be adrift on a sea of debris. The Silver Hawk was one of two cargo ships run aground by the 200-mile-per-hour hurricane. Both, still there almost a year later, were yielding to the blowtorch as crews dismantled them. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1970's of Archie Manning in football uniform, sitting on the sideline and grimacing as his arm is wrapped in a towel — Mississippi star quarterback Archie Manning grimaces as he straightens the right arm he injured in play against arch rival Louisiana State in Baton Rouge, La., Dec. 7, 1970. Manning, who was recovering from a broken left arm, injured his right arm in the third quarter and was sidelined as LSU went on to win 61-17. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1970's of two people standing outside of a damaged white building — A couple stands in front of a building in Philadelphia, Miss., June 10, 1974, that was a target for nightriders in the 1960s when it was an office of an amalgamation of civil rights groups called the Council of Federated Organizations. Ten years earlier, three civil rights workers were slain near Philadelphia. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1970's showing pallbearers moving a casket in front of a white church — New York Nets coach Kevin Loughery, right, and forward Julius Erving, left, were among pallbearers taking the body of Nets forward Wendell Ladner from the Infant of Prague Catholic Church following services at Necaise Crossing, Miss., June 28, 1975. Ladner was a passenger on Eastern Flight 66 that crashed in New York on June 25, killing 111 people. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1970's showing a man in a dark suit with both hands up in celebration among a crowd of people — Mississippi Governor Cliff Finch gestures to the crowd as he arrived for his victory celebration in Jackson, Mississippi, on June 27, 1978, after winning a runoff spot in the race to fill the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. James O. Eastland. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1980's of Ronald Reagan walking through a crowded political campaign event and shaking hands — Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, left, moves through the crowd shaking hands at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where he gave a “state’s rights” speech on Sunday, August 3, 1980. Their crowd was estimated at 20,000. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An old black and white photo from the 1980's of James Meredith holding his 8 month old daughter outside — James Meredith, 50, holds his 8-month-old daughter Jessica at their Jackson, Miss., home, Sept. 9, 1982. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

See More of Thornell’s Historic Photos From Across the South

A group of African American students, left, enter the school as a group of white mothers wait at the entrance. — A group of Black students, left, enter the Boothville-Venice School in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana on Sept. 12, 1966, as a group of white mothers wait at the entrance of the school. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

An older black and white photo of Dr. Martin Luther King's funeral, him laying at rest in his casket as his family looks on — Coretta Scott King, third right, is accompanied by her children—Yolanda, Bernice, Martin III and Dexter—at Sisters Chapel on the campus of Spellman College in Atlanta, on April 8, 1968. AP Photo/Jack Thornell, File

An older black and white photo of two men wearing suits and hardhats on a construction site — New York Mets general manager Robert Scheffing, right, chats with stadium official Bill Connick under the roof of the dome stadium that is under construction in New Orleans, April 2, 1973. AP Photo/Jack Thornell, File

An older black and white photo of men inside a prison hallway filled with beds behind bars — A prisoner lights a cigarette in the maximum security section of the Louisiana State prison at Angola, in December 1975. (AP Photo/Jack Thornell, File)

An older black and white photo of Jimmy Carter speaking to the press on an airport tarmac — Democratic presidential nominee Jimmy Carter speaks to reporters on his arrival at Hobby International Airport in Houston, Sept. 24, 1976. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

Desmond Tutu in a pinstriped suit jacket and bishop collar stands behind a mic, arms spread wide — South African Bishop Desmond Tutu denounces his country’s apartheid policy of racial separation in New Orleans, Sept. 7, 1982. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

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