Black-and-white photographic prints depicting the early Sanctuary Movement in Tucson, Arizona and San Benito, Texas. Prints feature the Southside Presbyterian Church, Temple Emanu-El, a demonstration in Tucson, Arizona over Central America Week in 1986, and the living, leisure, and dining spaces of Casa Oscar Romero in San Benito, Texas. There are additionally photographs of the United States-Mexico border and candid and portrait style photographs of individuals and groups of people. Those identified in the photographs include Jim Corbett, John Fife, Karen Snell, Philip Willis, Father Ramon Dagoberto Quinones, and Rabbi Joe Weizenbaum. The Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, AZ was the first church to declare itself a sanctuary for Central American refugees in America when, in 1982, Reverend John M. Fife gained the support of his congregation to do so. This support came in response to the second anniversary of the assassination of Oscar Romero. Fife and other Tucson residents, including Jim Corbett, additionally provided legal, financial, and material support to refugees. Karen Snell is an attorney who worked on Sanctuary-related cases in Arizona and Texas. According to Finkle's captions on these photographs, Casa Oscar Romero "is owned by the Catholic Church and provides temporary shelter for refugees." Harvey Finkle (born March 28, 1934) is a self-taught documentary still photographer who has documented the social, economic, cultural, and political issues in the city of Philadelphia and across the globe. Finkle's work largely focuses on historically marginalized communities, including low income and homeless families, homeless veterans, refugees, immigrants, and disabled people, providing documentation of activism in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and focuses on social injustices in the city, the country, and the world.
The contents of the "Harvey Finkle photographs," an archival collection of photographic material created by Harvey Finkle, of which this volume of digitized images is a part, is held at the University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts and is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
Notes:
All photographs taken by Harvey Finkle. The front and back of each black-and-white photographic print has been scanned. In some cases, pertinent information is written or inscribed on the back of the prints that is not reflected in the description of this volume of photographs.
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