Photographer with a social conscience: an oral history with John Kouns and a discussion of his photographs

This thesis project examines the life of John Kouns who has devoted much of his career as a professional photographer to chronicling the activities of the United Farmworkers movement. The project includes a review of the literature on the UFW including Cesar Chavez, the union's founder and other major participants and events that helped shape the union during its fledgling years. In the oral history section, Kouns recalls his role as a photographer and as a participant in the UFW movement. Additionally, Kouns describes his earlier participation in the civil rights movement including the 1963 march for jobs and freedom in Washington D.C. and other civil rights activities in Selma and Birmingham, AL during the volatile 1960s. Kouns describes more than 70 of his photographs including shots of UFW leaders Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and Jim Drake and civil rights leaders Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Rev. Martin Luther King and John Lewis.