Doris Derby was an activist and photographer who joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1961. She played various roles within the organization, including working on an adult literacy program in Jackson and Tougaloo, Mississippi, in 1962. From 1963 to 1972 she contributed to voting rights efforts, health clinics, and community theaters.

As a photographer, Derby depicted the everyday lives of those involved in the civil rights movement. Her work often focused on the participation of women and children in grassroots organizing, offering a powerful counterpoint to the violence and terror faced by these communities. Derby’s documentation of family life, along with Black-owned businesses and educators, provides an intimate, yet profound, view of resilience and resistance of Black communities during a turbulent period in American history.