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A Spy in Canaan: How the FBI Used a Famous Photographer to Infiltrate the Civil Rights Movement
The story of the double life of famed civil rights photographer Ernest Withers--and how a closely guarded government secret finally came to light. Told by the journalist who broke the story.
Ernest Withers captured some of the most iconic moments of the civil rights movement--from the rare photo of Martin Luther King Jr. in repose to the haunting photo of Emmet Till's great-uncle pointing an accusing finger at Till's killers. He was trusted and beloved by King's inner circle, and had a front row seat to history. But what most people don't know is that Withers was an informant for the FBI--and his photos helped the bureau identify and surveil the era's greatest figures. This book explores the life, complex motivations, and legacy of this fascinating figure.
Ernest Withers captured some of the most iconic moments of the civil rights movement--from the rare photo of Martin Luther King Jr. in repose to the haunting photo of Emmet Till's great-uncle pointing an accusing finger at Till's killers. He was trusted and beloved by King's inner circle, and had a front row seat to history. But what most people don't know is that Withers was an informant for the FBI--and his photos helped the bureau identify and surveil the era's greatest figures. This book explores the life, complex motivations, and legacy of this fascinating figure.
384 pages, Hardcover
Published March 27, 2018
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271 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 13, 2020
Marc Perrusquia does an excellent job here going over the long hidden history of famous Civil Rights photographer Ernest Wither's work providing information and photographs to the FBI, along with Perrusquia's own experience getting this information released from FBI records. This book was very educational on the FBI's internal processes during their "COINTELPRO" (Counter Intelligence Program) operations, and was very thorough in the background information regarding groups Withers reported on. Going in with very little prior knowledge of Withers work, I did not have the years of knowing him as a cornerstone of the Civil Rights movement like many did prior to the reveal of his FBI work. Giving photographs, personal information, and rumors to the FBI on nearly every major player within the Civil Rights and Anti-war movements, the full picture of Withers activities do much to hamper his legacy.
I do think the organization of this book leaves something to be desired. Each chapter skips around in the timeline, something which on paper would work fine for a story like this, but in reality just leads to much repeated information and clunky transitions which pull the reader out of it.
Overall I did enjoy this book, and would recommend to anyone familiar with Withers work, or with interest into the FBI overreach during the end of Red Scare America.
I do think the organization of this book leaves something to be desired. Each chapter skips around in the timeline, something which on paper would work fine for a story like this, but in reality just leads to much repeated information and clunky transitions which pull the reader out of it.
Overall I did enjoy this book, and would recommend to anyone familiar with Withers work, or with interest into the FBI overreach during the end of Red Scare America.
April 11, 2019
**2.5 Stars**
I had learned of Ernest Withers FBI informing while reading Dorothy Gilliam's TRAILBLAZER, and was absolutely gobsmacked. I knew I had to learn more. Then I came across this book....
Unfortunately, the book is just all over the place. While it does cover Withers' double-dealing, it's primary focus is Memphis and the machinations of the FBI & MPD, interspersed with the author's fight with the FBI to get Withers' files released. Then, it just devolves into a case-by-case/person-by-person recitation of the people who Withers deceived. Too bad too, because Withers' story is something out of a Hollywood spy-flick. Maybe someday, he will get the biography he deserves.
I had learned of Ernest Withers FBI informing while reading Dorothy Gilliam's TRAILBLAZER, and was absolutely gobsmacked. I knew I had to learn more. Then I came across this book....
Unfortunately, the book is just all over the place. While it does cover Withers' double-dealing, it's primary focus is Memphis and the machinations of the FBI & MPD, interspersed with the author's fight with the FBI to get Withers' files released. Then, it just devolves into a case-by-case/person-by-person recitation of the people who Withers deceived. Too bad too, because Withers' story is something out of a Hollywood spy-flick. Maybe someday, he will get the biography he deserves.
January 10, 2022
I rated this book three stars because it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. It was just ok. This book is about how the FBI used Earnest Withers, who was a photographer, to infiltrate the civil rights movement. He informed on many people over several years, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was able to gain their trust and they viewed him as a friend. Since he was a photographer and a journalist, they never thought it was strange that he was always asking questions and taking photos. He had the perfect cover. This book began with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which grabbed my attention early on. However, this book slowly lost its momentum. The author would introduce us to someone who was involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He would then tell us how Earnest Withers was able to gain that person's trust and get close to him/her. Then, Earnest Withers took pictures and he would occasionally meet with FBI agent Bill Lawrence to turnover the photos and report his findings. That same process happened over and over again throughout the book. The only thing that changed was the people that he was informing on. Needless to say, I found this book to be very repetitive. I also found this book to be very choppy... meaning the author jumped from one timeframe to another and back again. The transition from chapter to chapter didn't seem to flow properly. In my opinion, this book was more about FBI Agent Bill Lawrence and the people he was investigating. Earnest Withers seemed to play a supporting role. All in all, I'm still glad that I read the book because it introduced me to Earnest Withers. I'm from Memphis, so I enjoyed learning about him and others who either lived in Memphis or traveled to Memphis to make their contribution to the Civil Rights Movement. Even though he was an FBI informant, his photos were still a documentation of history that will last forever.
March 10, 2018
"A Spy in Canaan" is a highly readable civil rights history with implications for government spying in the modern day.
Few 20th-century figures have attracted as much public attention as civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. As the 50th anniversary of his brutal assassination in Memphis approaches, a new book offers fresh insight into King's world.
The book is "A Spy in Canaan" by my colleague Marc Perrusquia. It's a biography of famed civil rights photojournalist Ernest Withers, known for iconic pictures of sanitation workers in Memphis holding up signs that say "I AM A MAN." It was during that 1968 strike that King was killed.
Withers also shot many of the other timeless images of the civil rights movement. Among them are the image of a young King riding a bus in Montgomery following the boycott that desegregated that city's public transit system.
Withers also shot the courtroom picture of elderly sharecropper Moses Wright pointing an accusing finger at the white man accused in the murder of his 14-year-old relative Emmett Till.
Yet "A Spy in Canaan" reveals that Withers doubled as a paid informant for the FBI, giving agents inside information on King and numerous other civil rights figures. Withers' role as a trusted journalist allowed him to walk into the inner circles of the movement with a camera, and piles of documentation show he abused that trust by giving up secrets.
Nor was this information harmless - Perrusquia discovered that Withers passed to the FBI volatile details including allegations of homosexual activity.
Perrusquia used careful sleuthing and relentless litigation to obtain FBI files to piece together this secret history.
The book will likely become controversial because it reveals unflattering details of Withers' cooperation with the FBI as the ultimate source inside the civil rights movement.
When Perrusquia's news articles on the same subject ran in The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal in 2010, some people who knew Withers took deep offense. They saw it as unfair takedown of a beloved figure.
To anyone who would question the legitimacy of the reporting, I would offer my own "insider" account. I frequently talked with Perrusquia during his writing of "A Spy in Canaan," and I can personally attest that it's based on years of rock-solid documentation and double-checking.
Moreover, "A Spy in Canaan" is not a condemnation of Withers as a man. Perrusquia presents the now-deceased photographer as a complex and flawed individual - and also offers praise:
"Withers shot some of the most powerful images of his time, boldly and faithfully recording stories that many wanted to suppress, often at great personal risk," Perrusquia writes late in the book.
"Among the million or so photos he shot in his life, if he'd only snapped three - King on the bus; Moses Wright pointing his accusing finger; and those abused garbagemen unburdening their timeless message, 'I AM A MAN' he would secure a place of honor in history."
"Perhaps with these three images, the Holy Trinity of that righteous movement, Ernest Columbus Withers finds his absolution."
This book is worth reading for anyone who wants to understand the 1960s - or the modern day.
Few 20th-century figures have attracted as much public attention as civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. As the 50th anniversary of his brutal assassination in Memphis approaches, a new book offers fresh insight into King's world.
The book is "A Spy in Canaan" by my colleague Marc Perrusquia. It's a biography of famed civil rights photojournalist Ernest Withers, known for iconic pictures of sanitation workers in Memphis holding up signs that say "I AM A MAN." It was during that 1968 strike that King was killed.
Withers also shot many of the other timeless images of the civil rights movement. Among them are the image of a young King riding a bus in Montgomery following the boycott that desegregated that city's public transit system.
Withers also shot the courtroom picture of elderly sharecropper Moses Wright pointing an accusing finger at the white man accused in the murder of his 14-year-old relative Emmett Till.
Yet "A Spy in Canaan" reveals that Withers doubled as a paid informant for the FBI, giving agents inside information on King and numerous other civil rights figures. Withers' role as a trusted journalist allowed him to walk into the inner circles of the movement with a camera, and piles of documentation show he abused that trust by giving up secrets.
Nor was this information harmless - Perrusquia discovered that Withers passed to the FBI volatile details including allegations of homosexual activity.
Perrusquia used careful sleuthing and relentless litigation to obtain FBI files to piece together this secret history.
The book will likely become controversial because it reveals unflattering details of Withers' cooperation with the FBI as the ultimate source inside the civil rights movement.
When Perrusquia's news articles on the same subject ran in The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal in 2010, some people who knew Withers took deep offense. They saw it as unfair takedown of a beloved figure.
To anyone who would question the legitimacy of the reporting, I would offer my own "insider" account. I frequently talked with Perrusquia during his writing of "A Spy in Canaan," and I can personally attest that it's based on years of rock-solid documentation and double-checking.
Moreover, "A Spy in Canaan" is not a condemnation of Withers as a man. Perrusquia presents the now-deceased photographer as a complex and flawed individual - and also offers praise:
"Withers shot some of the most powerful images of his time, boldly and faithfully recording stories that many wanted to suppress, often at great personal risk," Perrusquia writes late in the book.
"Among the million or so photos he shot in his life, if he'd only snapped three - King on the bus; Moses Wright pointing his accusing finger; and those abused garbagemen unburdening their timeless message, 'I AM A MAN' he would secure a place of honor in history."
"Perhaps with these three images, the Holy Trinity of that righteous movement, Ernest Columbus Withers finds his absolution."
This book is worth reading for anyone who wants to understand the 1960s - or the modern day.
May 20, 2018
Marc Perrusquia should receive a Pulitzer for this book. After decades of intense investigative journalism, he uncovered the secret that Ernest Withers, renowned civil right photographer, was an FBI informant.
Perrusquia solidly documents his work. It is exquisitely sourced. The prose is solid and the pace is perfect. If you want to understand the depths to which the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover infiltrated the civil rights movement and other "New Left" movements, this is the book to read.
Bravo, Mr. Perrusquia. Bravo.
Perrusquia solidly documents his work. It is exquisitely sourced. The prose is solid and the pace is perfect. If you want to understand the depths to which the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover infiltrated the civil rights movement and other "New Left" movements, this is the book to read.
Bravo, Mr. Perrusquia. Bravo.
August 26, 2018
Wow, what a shocking story of deception. Most of the book deals with trying to pinpoint a motive for Ernest Withers' deception. Truly a memorable read, and a very different angle to the Civil Rights' movement.
May 24, 2018
Both shocking and fascinating, A Spy in Canaan, exposes a famous Civil Rights photographer turned FBI informant. Ernest Withers motives for becoming a turncoat are what makes this such a fascinating read. The author's interviews and research are thorough and informative. This is a remarkably light read considering the heady subject matter.
June 12, 2018
An totally engrossing story of how every movement has a backstage story you don't even believe could be there. How the FBI was/is able to find people willing to be used to defeat their own cause illustrates that there is good and bad and torn in all of us. A lesson from the past that applies to the future.
March 29, 2018
Simply a "must read".
As a person who lived in Memphis, worked in the media, and knew many of those named in this book, I can't stress strongly enough how important this story is about the making of an important era in history.
As a person who lived in Memphis, worked in the media, and knew many of those named in this book, I can't stress strongly enough how important this story is about the making of an important era in history.
July 3, 2018
An amazing story about a Civil Rights hero who actually informed to the FBI about "potential Communists." Fascinating tonrrad how the FBI spied and infiltrated the Civil Rights movement.
The book is poorly organized. The reporter spends far too much time writing about himself and not the subject.
The book is poorly organized. The reporter spends far too much time writing about himself and not the subject.
May 20, 2020
This is a fascinating look into the life of an extraordinary man, as well as into the civil rights movement, not just in Memphis, but in the South at large.
A very interesting book, and I learned a lot.
A very interesting book, and I learned a lot.
May 26, 2018
Everything you would expect from a top-notch journalist - an intriguing look at a covert situation.
June 11, 2018
A bit slow but well crafted. More focus on the writer's long battle with the FBI to get them to release info under the freedom of information act than I personally liked.
June 13, 2019
Expertly researched and enlightening.
January 25, 2021
interesting full-length treatment of Perrusquia's reporting, but you can go there to get what you need. Fascinating stuff, but hardly surprising as "cointel" goes
June 23, 2018
Sometimes repetitive and didn’t like the way it was laid out but riveting subject matter makes this a 4 star read.
November 2, 2019
I did not finish this book. I thought it would be more compelling but read more like a newspaper article. I was just not “drawn” to the story and overall Very bored at the 20% mark.
May 31, 2018
Intriguing, interesting read of a time when government overreach was used to monitor those with differing opinions. The author doesn't try to explain why he made the choices he made, yet gives lots of ideas about how he could have become a spy on friends, peers and others in the movement.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews