AP's Sweep of the Century

By: Editorial Staff In a stirring reminder that a picture can often be worth a thousand words ? or even ten thousand ? the release of The Associated Press' "Photos of the Century" package offers a panoramic view of the 20th century.
"ap chiefs of bureaus around the country asked the wire service's 1,550 American newspaper members to plumb their archives ? essentially the photo album of the nation ? and pick one image emblematic of a time, a place, an important person, even a quiet moment," writes Ted Anthony, an ap national writer, in the story that accompanies the assortment of national and international photos.
Seeking to capture the "mosaic of moments," the 150 photos range from oil spills to vaccinations to movie stars to other celebrities to regular people.
Between Amelia Earhart on a coast-to-coast flight and a California firefighter attempting to rescue a young woman during a 1996 flood, the photos depict a historical narrative that catalogs the tragedy and triumph of the human spirit.
The ap-organized compilation will be made available to members, who will be able to select and use any of the photographs for stories and packages in their newspapers.
"In the end, of course, photos tell only of moments," writes Anthony, "But put enough of those moments together and you begin to weave the tapestry of the world."

1. Pickets beat a Ford Motor Co. security man at the strike-bound Rouge Plant in Dearborn, Mich., April 3, 1941. "The Picket Line" won the first Pulitzer Prize for photography in 1942.
Photo by Milton "Pete" Brooks/The Detroit News
2. Santa Rosa, Calif., firefighter Don Lopez grabs a tree limb after diving into Matanzas creek in Santa Rosa to rescue Marglyn Paseka, 15, during a February 1996 flood. The photo won a Pulitzer Prize for spot news photography.
Photo by Annie Wells/The Press Democrat
3. Children drill during World War II as members of the Junior Home Guard, a civilian program, to act as observers for the war effort on the hills above the Port Angeles, Wash., Harbor.
Photo by the Peninsula Daily News
4. Elvis Presley entertains a packed house during a special performance of the KWKH Louisiana Hayride at Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport, La., Dec. 15, 1956.
Photo by Will Counts/Arkansas Democrat
5. Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Montgomery (Ala.) Improvement Association, is arrested Sept. 3, 1958, outside the Montgomery courthouse for loitering after he was denied entrance and asked to leave a hearing for Ralph Abernathy, vice president of the association.
Photo by Charles Moore/Montgomery Advertiser
6. Amelia Earhart made a refueling stop in Rock Springs, Wyo., June 4, 1931, on her coast-to-coast flight from Newark, N.J.
Photo by the Daily Rocket-Miner


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