Harvey Finkle, Bread & Roses' Tribute honoree

by Ron Whitehorne on Oct 14 2009

Photo: Harvey Finkle

This is a photo from the Spring 2005 edition focused on high schools, which includes a spread on Olney HS that Ron and Harvey worked on together.

In 2000, Harvey joined the Notebook as a regular contributing photographer, and over the course of the decade more than 200 of his photos have appeared in the newspaper and on the Web site. Harvey has documented student activism, parent organizing, and the work of local education advocates. He has photographed classrooms and protest marches, art shows and School Reform Commission meetings. Harvey’s photographs always reflect his deep respect for their subjects. In that way, his work is a perfect fit for the Notebook.

Thursday Bread & Roses Community Fund will honor photographer Harvey Finkle for his decades documenting Philadelphia's activist community.

Notebook board member Ron Whitehorne shares his thoughts about Harvey:

I’ve known Harvey Finkle since the late 1960s. We were members of People for Human Rights and soldiered together trying to stop Frank Rizzo’s war on Black people and the war on Vietnam. In recent years we’ve worked together with the Notebook.

Besides running into each other at the usual events, we collaborated on a story, spending an afternoon hanging on the sidewalk outside Olney High interviewing and photographing students.

In addition to his great talent as a recorder of people in struggle, two things stand out for me about Harvey. First, there is his humility.  Back in the '60s some of us fell into a kind of arrogance, mistaking our politics for a mark of moral superiority. Harvey wasn’t like that. I never heard him preach or pontificate. He listened to people and if he said anything he did it quietly and with good grace.  

The other thing about Harvey is his good humor. I’ve never seen him down. Running into him always lifts my spirits. 

Until I read the article in the Inquirer yesterday I didn’t know about Harvey’s children being deaf.  I also didn’t realize he was 75, a role model for 67 year olds like me. It’s like him to not talk much about himself.  

Congratulations Harvey on getting your props from Bread & Roses. Look forward to another few decades of your pictures. See you on the picket line. 

The annual Tribute to Change event will be held from 6-8 p.m. at the National Constitution Center. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

At the event there will be an exhibit of Harvey's work, a juried exhibit of young photographers who are following in Harvey's footsteps, and a video reflecting on Harvey's accomplishments. Several albums of Harvey's photos will also be on display, including one of his work for the Notebook.