Elmhurst Art Museum presents the civil rights photography of Bernard Kleina
The 1965 marches, protests and demonstrations for racial justice changed Wheaton resident Bernard Kleina’s life. With one camera and two lenses, Kleina captured Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Chicago Freedom Movement, the fight against discriminatory housing practices in Chicago. Kleina’s King images, shot in color, were acquired by the Smithsonian Museum. His photography anchors the Elmhurst Art Museum’s latest exhibit “In Focus: The Chicago Freedom Movement and the Fight for Fair Housing,” a show that reflects on historical and contemporary responses to fair housing in the Chicagoland, beginning with the Chicago Freedom Movement.
Bernard Kleina poses with his photographs on display at the “In Focus: The Chicago Freedom Movement and the Fight for Fair Housing” at Elmhurst Art Museum, March 4, 2021. (Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Post cards showing Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights marches, along with a camera used by photographer Bernard Kleina are on display at “In Focus: The Chicago Freedom Movement and the Fight for Fair Housing” at the Elmhurst Art Museum, March 4, 2021. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Color photographs show a white mob turning violent in Marquette Park in 1966 Chicago by Bernard Kleina at the “In Focus: The Chicago Freedom Movement and the Fight for Fair Housing” at Elmhurst Art Museum, March 4, 2021. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Bernard Kleina looks at his photograph of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on display at “In Focus: The Chicago Freedom Movement and the Fight for Fair Housing” at the Elmhurst Art Museum, March 4, 2021. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

A civil rights march in Marquette Park on Aug. 5, 1966, was captured by photographer Bernard Kleina. (Bernard Kleina)
Elmhurst students and clergy took part in a civil rights march, shown in photographs at the “In Focus: The Chicago Freedom Movement and the Fight for Fair Housing” at Elmhurst Art Museum, March 4, 2021. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

An display of photographs can be scene outside the Elmhurst Art Museum, March 4, 2021. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
A photograph on display shows a white mob attacking people in a car during a protests in Marquette Park in 1966 by Bernard Kleina at the Elmhurst Art Museum, March 4, 2021. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Buttons at the front door of museum at “In Focus: The Chicago Freedom Movement and the Fight for Fair Housing” at the Elmhurst Art Museum, March 4, 2021. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

A color photograph shows a civil rights protests in the 1960’s by Bernard Kleina at the “In Focus: The Chicago Freedom Movement and the Fight for Fair Housing” at the Elmhurst Art Museum, March 4, 2021. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)