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The Charles A. Ray Photography Collection offers scholars a glimpse into the work of Charles A. Ray. Charles Ray stepped behind the camera in 1954, at the age of 23. Ray's camera captured a nation in flux. Through his lens, television viewers experienced the drama of presidential campaigns, the passion of the civil rights movement, and the adventure and tragedy of NASA's race for space. Charles Ray documented our nation's growing pains, including the bloody clashes between police and journalists covering the civil rights protests of the 1960s, and the tragic end of Camelot. Charles Ray graciously donated his collection to Florida Gulf Coast University Library in 2002. The Charles A. Ray Photography Collection includes photographs, negatives, daybooks, audiotapes, videotapes, periodicals, newspapers, a reel-to-reel projector, 16mm film, and other professional mementos. The collection is organized by two series. The first series highlights his personal life, which consists of documents, images, and ephermera. The second series provides documents and images from Ray's professional career.