Half Past Autumn - Gordon Parks pt 1

1. On the day Gordon Parks was born, how did the doctor save Gordon's life?
   Gordon Parks was saved by the assistant of the head doctor. He was actually pronounced dead but a young white doctor plunged his blood-soaked remains into a tub of icy water and miraculously gave him life.
2. Where was Gordon born? (what state?)
   Gordon Parks was born in Fort Scott, Kansas. 
3. What did Gordon's class adviser, Ms. McClintock, tell him about college?
   Ms. McClintock discouraged Gordon from developing any aspirations for high education. He attended a segregated elementary school where the high school wasn't segregated because the town was too small to afford to build another one. His teacher also told him that going to college would just waste his parents' money; additionally, she said that black were reserved for menial labor such as accountants or clerks. 
4. How old was Gordon when his mother died?
   Gordon's mother unfortunately died when he was fourteen years old. It was a tragic event and at the night of her death he spent his sleeping beside his mother's coffin. 
5. Where did Gordon move after his mother died?
   After the tragic passing of his mother Gordon was sent to live with his relatives. The particular situation ended when Parks was thrown out into the subzero streets of St. Paul, Minnesota. His sister's husband threw him out of the house just before Christmas and Parks was forced to take a variety of jobs to support himself. 
6. Did Gordon graduate from college?
   Unfortunately Gordon's academic career was cut short when he was thrown out. 
7. How did Gordon begin his fashion photography career?
   Gordon started his photography career by a complete accident. 
8. What is a "double exposure?"
   Double exposure is the repeated exposure of a photographic or film to light. The effects of double exposure is characterized by a ghostly image. 
9. Who was boxer Joe Louis?
   Joe Louis was an American professional boxer and the World Heavyweight Champion. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. More importantly, he was a man that defied the social norm and the stereotypes. He carried the hopes and dreams of the 'black race'. 
10. What instrument did Gordon play?
    Although Gordon was never taught music theory he was able to compose music for the piano. He was a phenomenal pianist and he performed as a jazz pianist. 
11. What was the purpose of the Farm Security Administration?
    The purpose of the Farm Security Administration was to combat the pervasive nature of American rural poverty during the Great Depression. They strove to improve the lifestyle of sharecroppers, tenants, farmers through resettling them on more suitable plots of land. 
12. When Roy Stryker hired Gordon for the FSA, what was Stryker's first assignment for Gordon in Washington, D.C.?
    Roy Stryker 
13. Who was Ella Watson?
14. What was the inspiration for Grant Wood's American Gothic?
15. What did Gordon learn from Stryker about photography?