Page 5 – LIFE

The Logging Life: Gone Down the River

September 24, 2024September 24, 2024 by Bill Syken

Some of the most appealing photoshoots for the original run of LIFE magazine are the ones that captured a way of life that has receded from the modern world. Perhaps there is no better example than LIFE’s story on the vanishing cowboy, which would become an inspiration for the Marlboro Man character. That figure resonated in part because he represented something that was being lost—a world in which people spent their workdays in the saddle, rather than at the desk.

In 1940 LIFE staff photographer Hansel Mieth ventured to Idaho for a story in a similar vein. Here the central figures were the loggers. Mieth captured these men gathering timber from the forests and shepherding those fallen trees down the river to a lumber mill. A log drive bears more than a passing resemblance to a cattle drive. While the trees are not alive in the same way that cattle are, their size, along with the rushing waters, created an element of adventure—certainly more than one might find in, say, an office cubicle.

The pictures Mieth took at a logging camp deepen the shoot’s cowboy feel. When not working some of the loggers gathered to sing songs, and the camp cook signaled chow time by ringing a triangular dinner bell.

Mieth’s logging photos never made it into the magazine, and without an accompanying story, we don’t know much about the location off the shoot, beyond that it was in Idaho. We also don’t know much about the loggers themselves, except for what Mieth captured visually. Nor do we know the specific theme of the intended story, which is thus left to our imaginations.

In 2023 nearly 50,000 people worked in the logging industry in the United States, so the business continues. But the practice of driving logs down the river ceased in the 1970s. If it happens at all these days, it’s part of one-day celebration honoring a bygone practice.

The lumber industry in Idaho, 1940.

Hansel Mieth/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Remembering Mercury Morris: A Cool College Photo Shoot

September 23, 2024September 22, 2024 by Bill Syken

Mercury Morris, who died on Sept. 21, 2024, at the age of 77, is best remembered by football fans as a star running back on the Miami Dolphins teams that won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1972 and ’73.

Before going to the pros Morris played his college ball at West Texas State (now known as West Texas A&M), where LIFE reported on this rising star in an October 1968 issue. The magazine said that the arid West Texas landscape was home to one of the most electric athletes in the game:

He plays of the fringe of big-time college football, where the stadiums are half-deserted, the star’s scrapbook fits in his watch pocket, and cows graze just beyond the practice field…..Now in his senior year, Morris at 21 may be the most exciting running back in college football.

The magazine celebrated Morris with an eye-catching photo shoot by Bob Gomel. The costars of the shoot are Morris and the wide open West Texas skies. Throw in a supporting performance by the university’s buffalo statue and the resulting images are pretty darn cool.

In some of the photos Morris had cardboard wings attached to his helmet, a reference to the Greek god inspired his nickname.

LIFE’s story predicted Morris would be taken in the first round of the NFL draft, but he lasted until the third round, when he was selected by the Miami Dolphins. He would play there for seven years and have three Pro Bowl seasons, including in 1972, when the Dolphins went undefeated and Morris led the NFL in touchdowns with 12.

When Morris died, his old NFL team released a statement saying, “He loved the Dolphins, the fans and the community of South Florida and will forever be remembered as one of the greatest players to don the aqua and orange.”

Eugene “Mercury” Morris during his college years at West Texas State, 1968.

West Texas State star football player Eugene “Mercury” Morris

Eugene “Mercury” Morris during his college years at West Texas State, 1968.

West Texas State star football player Eugene “Mercury” Morris, posing with school mascot.

Eugene “Mercury” Morris during his college years at West Texas State, 1968.

Bob Gomel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

“Degrading to Minority and Majority Alike”: The Fight to Vote, 1960

September 10, 2024September 10, 2024 by Bill Syken

The fight for the right to vote for Black people in America was a long and difficult one, and a LIFE story from 1960 provides a vivid illustration of the kinds of obstacles that were encountered in the not-too-distant past.

In its issue of Sept. 19 of that year, LIFE ran a collection of articles examining the state of Black political life in this country, including the right to vote. The topics were wide-ranging, but began with news from Tennessee, where Black people attempting to partake in the electoral process were meeting discouragement in many forms. Here’s how the magazine described it:

Thursday after Thursday in the sweltering summer heat of Brownsville, Tenn., the seat of Haywood County, Negro citizens stood in line, hoping to register as voters. It was a slow process, for reasons no white official seemed ready to explain. Last week fewer than 400 of Haywood’s 15,000 Negroes had seen their names inscribed. In adjoining Fayette County those few Negroes who had successfully insisted upon their right to register were paying a penalty. They were losing jobs and finding themselves unable to sell anything or to buy anything from their white neighbors.

The most striking pictures from this collection by staff photographer Walter Sanders are of those ordinary citizens in Tennessee who dared to have a say in their governance and a result were met with boycotts from local businesses. The NAACP brought food and clothes to help Black people who were shut out of shops because they had registered to vote.

The collection of stories also included one on how protestors trained for sit-ins, a popular form of protest then in the campaign for civil rights. Another story looked at Black politicians such as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and William L. Dawson who had gained elected office, laying the groundwork for Barack Obama to become the first Black president nearly a half-century later.

In its 1960 story LIFE wrote of the incremental nature of change: “The struggle, degrading to minority and majority alike, was far from over, but it was progressing.”

Black people endured an improbably slow wait to get into Haywood County (Tenn.) Courthouse to register to vote, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Black people endured an improbably long wait in the summer sun when they came to register to vote in Haywood County, Tennessee, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Black people endured an inexplicably long wait on a summer afternoon to get into Haywood County (Tenn.) Courthouse to register to vote, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life PIcture Collection/Shutterstock

This Black farmer has his goods boycotted in local stores in Tennessee because he registered to vote, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The NAACP delivered food and clothing to Black people in Tennessee who faced boycotts from local stores after registering to vote, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A woman received clothing provided by the NAACP after local businesses in Tennessee had barred Black people who had registered to vote, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Thad Turner, a bus driver, and his 17 children had to move because of harassment after he registered to vote in Tennessee, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

John W. Kellogg, a city councilman in Cleveland, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Congressman William L. Dawson of Chicago met with constituents, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Congressman William L. Dawson of Illinois spoke with precinct captain Ruth Patillo at a picnic, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life PIcture Collection/Shutterstock

William L. Dawson, a U.S. Congessman from Chicago, was the first Black person to chair a Congressional committee.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Congressman William L. Dawson spoke with Lyndon B. Johnson in 1960; Johnson would become president in 1963 and sign the landmark Voting Rights Act in 1965.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (right) of New York and Rep. Gracie Pfost of Idaho at a congressional committee meeting. 1960

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Corneal A. Davis, a state representative in Illinois, shown here in 1960, served in the legislature from 1943 to 1979.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Floy Clements, the first Black woman to serve in the Illinois state legislature, at political dinner in 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Adam Clayton Powell Jr. at a demonstration, 1960.

Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Angelina Jolie’s Inspiration: Maria Callas in LIFE

September 5, 2024September 5, 2024 by Bill Syken

This fall Angelina Jolie takes on her first starring role in three years with the movie Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas. The movie had its premiere on August 29, 2024 at the Venice Film Festival, and is expected to make it to Netflix later in 2024. This continues a recent trend of prestige biopics featuring subjects who were covered heavily in the original run of LIFE magazine, including Robert Oppenheimer and Leonard Bernstein.

There are many ways to measure just how big a deal Maria Callas was during her heyday, and one of them is how many LIFE photographers took their turn shooting her. The list is an impressive one, and it includes Gordon Parks, Margaret Bourke-White, John Dominis, Thomas McAvoy, James Burke and PIerre Boulat.

On one occasion Callas appeared in LIFE not as a subject of a story but rather as its author. In 1959 she took the magazine to defend herself in a piece titled “I Am Not Guilty of All Those Scandals.” She had been accused of feigning illness when she didn’t want to go on, demanding exorbitant rates and other incidents related to her stage career. Callas wrote that all those claims were untrue. She did, however, acknowledge that she was difficult to work with—a label she accepted with pride:

Of course, I am difficult. An artist who tries sincerely to meet the demands of operatic music must work under extraordinary tension. Great music cannot be achieved without hard work and high standards. If I were willing to accept second-best opera, if I did not care about quality, I could very easily establish a reputation for always being sweet, charming and amenable to every suggestion, a completely docile soprano in every respect. But that is too high a price to pay for such a reputation…I see no reason to pretend I am happy and cheerful about second-rate music—or about those who are willing to see it performed.

After going through a point-by-point rebuttal of various claims that went on for several pages, Callas concluded “I am not an angel and do not pretend to be. That is not one of my roles. But I am not the devil, either. I am a woman and a serious artist, and I would like to be so judged.”

In addition to her storied opera career, the magazine also wrote about Callas’s personal life, including in 1959 when she separated from her husband, Italian industrialist Giovanni Meneghini, and was whisked away on a private jet by Aristotle Onassis. LIFE reported in ’59 that Callas got to know Onassis “when she and her husband cruised the Mediterranean in his yacht in a party that included Sir Winston and Lady Churchill and Onassis’s 28-year-old wife Tina.”

Onassis would in 1968 famously leave Callas for Jacqueline Kennedy. Callas’s relationship with Onassis is central to the Angelina Jolie’s movie—which is directed by Pablo Larrain, who also directed the 2016 biopic Jackie.

Maria Callas following a performance of Norma at the Civic Opera House in Chicago, 1954.

John Dominis/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Opera singer Maria Callas at a post performance gala following her opening night performance of the opera “Norma” at the Civic Opera House in Chicago, 1954.

John Dominis/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Opera singer Maria Callas discussed her performance with director Nicola Rescigno, 1954.

John Dominis/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Maria Callas performed in the opera Norma at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, 1956.

Gordon Parks/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Maria Callas applied makeup to a mannequin version of herself, 1956.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Maria Callas spoke to the press after a U.S. performance of Medea, 1958.

Thomas McAvoy/LIfe PIcture Collection/Shutterstock

Maria Callas performed as Medea at at the ancient Greek theater Epidauris, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Opera singer Maria Callas during filming of movie Medea, 1969.

Pierre Boulat/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Maria Callas during filming of movie Medea, 1969.

Pierre Boulat/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Portrait of Maria Callas during the filming of the movie ‘Medea’, Turkey, 1969.

Pierre Boulat/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Simply the Best: Kansas High School Football, 1960

August 28, 2024August 28, 2024 by Bill Syken

In the 20th century Lawrence High School in Kansas had a football program that was as dominant as it gets. The school enjoyed 31 undefeated seasons and between 1914 and 1995, and it won 28 state championships. The school’s most notable football alum was John Hadl, who went on quarterback the Chargers.

In 1960 Hadl was gone but Lawrence was still rolling over the competition when LIFE came to visit. Lawrence was on a 45-game winning streak, the longest in the country at the time, and LIFE thought it was a big enough of a deal that the magazine sent two photographers, Grey Villet and Francis Miller, to capture life in and around the team.

The team had been so good for so long that their coach wondered if they might stop listening to him. “I can’t scare them anymore,” coach Al Woolard told LIFE. “How do you preach fear to boys who have never lost a game?”

Judging from the photos, though, Woolard’s ship was plenty tight. Being a Chesty Lion—that was the school’s nickname—meant not only hitting the gridiron but attending regular Bible study meetings. And while the rock-and-roll look was taking root around the country, it had no place in the Lawrence locker room. The coach told his players, “You can wear a ducktail haircut or play football, but not both.”

Before games Woolard had his players lay down on mats in the gym and meditate: “I ask them to think deep down about what they can offer, and if they will pay the price.”

Whatever price they paid, they were rewarded for it. In 1960 Lawrence not only won the state title but was one of two schools that year recognized as a mythical national championship by the awarding organizations. The win streak would be broken the next season, but the Lions would bounce back with three consecutive state championships in 1962, ’63 and ’64.

Lawrence High School football, 1960.

Grey Villet/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Lawrence (Kan.) High School football team warmed up, 1960.

Francis Miller/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Lawrence High School football, 1960.

Grey Villet/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Members of the band and the pep squad at Lawrence (Kan.) High School ran back to the building after a practice, 1960.

Francis Miller/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Senior Carol Albers invited football star Chuck Bowen to a party, Lawrence, Kansas, 1960.

Grey Villet/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Bob Kimball, the second-leading scorer on the Lawrence (Kan.) High School football team, spoke with friend Janice Salisbury, 1960.

Grey Villet/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Lawrence (Kan.) High School cheerleaders, 1960.

Francis Miller/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Members of the Lawrence High football team at a Bible class, 1960.

Francis Miller/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Lawrence (Kan.) High School football team, on its way to an undefeated season and a state and national championship, meditated before a game, 1960.

Grey Villet/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Football coach Al Woolard addressed his team at Lawrence (Kan.) High, 1960.

Grey Villet/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Lawrence High School football, 1960.

Grey Villet/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chuck Bowen, the leading scorer on the Lawrence (Kan.) High football team, watched his coach review plays during halftime of a game, 1960.

Grey Villet/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Lawrence High School football, 1960.

Grey Villet/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Fans watched the Lawrence (Kan.) High school football team, 1960.

Grey Villet/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Lawrence High School football, 1960.

Francis Miller/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Bears: Strong, Wise, and Increasingly Among Us

August 15, 2024August 15, 2024 by Bill Syken

The following is adapted from LIFE’s new special issue on bears, available at newsstands and online:

Globally, bear populations are plummeting, with several species designated as endangered or vulnerable to extinction. But in many parts of North America, people are seeing more bears than ever. Since the 1970s, American bears in the lower 48 states have been expanding their territories, and enthusiasts need not travel into dense forests to spot a black bear or grizzly. Many can just look into their backyards. In the early ’70s, there were fewer than 100 black bears in New Jersey; today there are about 3,000 and they have been found in every county in the Garden State.

Over the past several decades, Americans have been cutting down more forests and developing commercial properties on lands that have long belonged to bears. With less space to roam, bears are becoming our new next-door neighbors, taking dips in swimming pools, lounging in hammocks, and rifling through garden sheds. Their hijinks, often caught on camera, attract millions of views on social media and portray bears as approachable and playful. But they are still predators, whose tolerance of humans has its limits. “The victim wasn’t off walking in the woods,” Charlie Rose reported in a 2014 CBS News program about a woman in Florida mauled by a bear. “She was attacked in her own suburban yard.” She survived, with 10 stitches and 30 staples to the head.

Since 1960, Florida’s human population has increased from 5 million to more than 22 million. To accommodate this surge, 7 million acres of forest and wetlands have been destroyed for new homes. So it might have been the woman’s backyard, but to the bear, it was also his.

If you find yourself in bear country, which today could be deep in Yosemite or just off New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway, there’s plenty of advice to avoid conflicts. If you encounter a bear, dispensing a canister of bear spray at the animal is more effective than any air horn or sound. While you’re urged to carry it in certain national parks, the product could be dangerous if not used according to its directions. In 2022, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation tweeted: “Listen, bear spray DOES NOT work like bug spray. We would like to not have to say that again.”

Most bears will avoid humans if they hear them coming, but if a bear has noticed you, the U.S. National Park Service provides some general tips: Stand still and identify yourself as a human by talking calmly and slowly waving your arms, so the bear doesn’t mistake you for a prey animal. “It may come closer or stand on its hind legs to get a better look or smell,” notes the park service’s website. “A standing bear is usually curious, not threatening.”

Hike and travel in groups, as a collection of people are usually noisier—and smellier—than a lone person. A bear is more likely to notice your group and stay away. And remember that bears get more confident and linger when human food is involved. Keep your fare away and hidden; otherwise it could encourage a bear. If the bear is stationary, move away slowly and sideways. This movement allows you to keep an eye on the bear while avoiding tripping. Plus, moving sideways is non-threatening to bears.

Ultimately, stay calm and remember that most bears don’t want to attack you—they just want to be left alone. A bear woofing, yawning, growling, or snapping their jaws may just be bluffing their way out of a potential encounter. Continue to talk to the bear in low tones, keeping it calm until it leaves. Wild animals are dangerous and can be enjoyed from a distance, and hopefully that distance will widen after decades of encroachment on each other’s turf. And those who live on the periphery of their habitats know that the beauty of bears is worth protecting.

Here is a selection of images from LIFE’s new special issue on bears.

Alatom/Getty Images

Teddy Roosevelt’s act of kindness toward a bear during a 1902 hunt was the seed what would become known as the “teddy bear.”

Getty Images

Brown bears are the most widely distributed bear species in the world, and are found in northern North America, Europe and Asia.

Mari Perry/500px/Getty Images

Brown bear cubs, after being protected by their mother early in life, often briefly stay with their littermates before going on to lead independent lives.

Getty Images

When salmon migrate upriver, bears gather for a hearty meal.

© Gerald and Buff Corsi / Focus on Nature/Getty Images/iStockphoto

For polar bears, climate change is threatening their way of life.

© PAUL SOUDERS | WORLDFOTO/Getty Images

The koalas of Australia look like bears but are in fact marsupials.

B.S.P.I./Corbis Documentary/Getty Images

Bears’ teeth are similar to humans, with broad, flat molars that can be used to grind food.

Irena Anna Sowinska/Getty Images

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