*Please note: The exact date of this photograph is unknown.
A candid photograph showing Bayard Rustin in a relaxing moment.
The early 1940s were a formative period for Rustin, marked by his incarceration as a World War II conscientious objector and his deepening engagement with Quaker pacifism. During this era, Rustin forged key alliances with Fellowship of Reconciliation leaders and articulated nonviolent strategies that would later underpin mass civil rights campaigns. This image underscores the personal sacrifice and moral discipline that informed Rustin’s ideology, reflecting the tensions between wartime patriotism and individual conscience that shaped his foundational years as an activist.
Advocate.com Editors. 2023. “Bayard Rustin’s Life and Civil Rights Legacy in Photos.” Advocate.Com, November 17, 2023. https://www.advocate.com/slideshow/2019/1/21/bayard-rustins-life-and-civil-rights-legacy-photos#rebelltitem3.
