--- description: Stephen Shames' photographs, presented with the words of Bobby Seale, offer an intimate look at the workings of the Black Panther Party title: See Black Panther Party History in Photos by Stephen Shames image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52bb80b96efada08/6988a5ba5f570f22b1b227f0/stephen-shames-bobby-seale-05.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Civil Rights](/tag/civil-rights/) ## Civil Rights Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Firsthand View of the Rise of the Black Panther Party  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Sep 16, 2016 7:30 PM CUT  Free Huey / Free Bobby rally in front of the Federal Building, San Francisco, February 1970. Free Huey / Free Bobby rally in front of the Federal Building, San Francisco, February 1970.Stephen Shames—Courtesy of Abrams Books  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Sep 16, 2016 7:30 PM CUT It was almost exactly 50 years ago, in October of 1966, that Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Less than a year had gone by before University of California student Stephen Shames showed up at an anti-war rally and photographed Seale. In the years that followed, the two would develop a tight relationship and Shames would have access to the inner world of the Black Panthers during a turbulent and world-changing time. The extent of that access is made clear in a forthcoming book from Shames and Seale, [_Power to the People: The World of the Black Panthers_](http://www.abramsbooks.com/product/power-to-the-people-the-world-of-the-black-panthers%5F9781419722400/ "undefined")(Abrams), several photographs from which can be seen here. The book, with photographs by Shames and an oral history by Seale and others, traces the rise and impact of the Panthers. Asked whether he has a favorite of all of those images, Seale tells TIME that the photograph that stands out is one of the first that Shames captured of his work: a picture of him selling Chairman Mao’s “Little Red Book” at a rally in 1967, a tactic the Panthers used to raise money for their organization and the programs they operated. “We had sold over 3,000 of those books in the spring of 1967\. I got them for 20 cents a piece and sold them for a dollar,” Seale recalls. “But what’s great about that story is that we hadn’t even read that book! That’s the killer. That was 1967\. I never made that book official reading material \[for the Party\] until 1968.” [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter "undefined")  Power to the People: The World of the Black Panthers, Photographs by Stephen Shames; text by Bobby Seale. Published by Abrams. Courtesy of Abrams Books Dozens of Shames’ photographs, many of which have never before be exhibited, will be [on view](http://www.stevenkasher.com/exhibitions/power-to-the-people-the-black-panthers-in-photographs-by-stephen-shames-and-graphics-by-emory-douglas "undefined") starting Friday at Steven Kasher Gallery in New York City. **_Read more:_** [**10 Questions With Bobby Seale**](http://ti.me/2cxMLRO "undefined")  Panthers stand just off stage at a Free Huey rally in Defermery Park, Oakland 1968\. Che Brooks (arms folded) was a San Francisco Panther who went to San Quentin State Prison and started the prison chapter. Stephen Shames—Courtesy of Abrams Books  Bobby Seale sells Mao's "Red Book" to raise money at the first San Francisco Peace March against the Vietnam War, Kezar Stadium, April 15, 1967. Stephen Shames—Courtesy of Abrams Books  Angela Davis speaks at a Free Huey Rally in DeFremery Park, Oakland, Nov. 12, 1969. Stephen Shames—Courtesy of Abrams Books  Huey Newton listens to Bob Dylan's album Highway 61 Revisited in his house shortly after his release from prison, Berkeley, August 1970. Stephen Shames—Courtesy of Abrams Books  Free Huey / Free Bobby rally in front of the Federal Building, San Francisco, February 1970. Stephen Shames—Courtesy of Abrams Books  Panthers march through West Philadephia with Khalid Raheem in the lead, 1971. Stephen Shames—Courtesy of Abrams Books  The Lumpen, the Panthers' singing group, performs at the boycott of Bill's Liquors, Oakland, 1971\. Clark Bailey, known as Santa Rita, is dancing. Michael Torrence (front) and James Mott (back) are drumming. Stephen Shames—Courtesy of Abrams Books  Gloria Abernathy selling papers at the Mayfair supermarket boycott, Oakland, 1971\. Tamara Lacey is in the background holding a poster. Stephen Shames—Courtesy of Abrams Books  Classroom at the Intercommunal Youth Institute, Oakland, 1971. Stephen Shames—Courtesy of Abrams Books  People's Free Food Program, Palo Alto, 1972. 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