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1912

November 30,

Parks, youngest of 15 children born to Sarah and Andrew Jackson Parks, in Fort Scott, KS

Elementary schooling Fort Scott

1919

Self taught piano

1928

Upon death of Sarah Parks, moves to St. Paul, Minnesota, to live with sister

Attended Mechanics Arts High School, St. Paul

Forced from home, works menial jobs, continues education

1929

Father and three older sisters move to St. Paul.

Meets future wife, Sally Alvis

Travels to Chicago, IL

1930

Back in St. Paul with sister, Cora.

First composition, “No Love”.

Travels with band to NY, NY

1933

Joined the Civilian Conservation Corps

Married Sally Alvis (divorced 1961)

1934

Returned to MN,

Dining car waiter and porter on the North Coast Limited Railway’s Chicago to Seattle run

Son, Gordon Parks, Jr. born

1937

First camera purchased,

Seattle, WA

Free lance fashion photographer St. Paul, MN,  & Chicago, IL

1940
Daughter Toni born

1941
Julius Rosenwald Fellowship for Photography 

1942

Farm Security Administration photographer, Washington, D.C.

1943

Correspondent for the Office of War Information

1944-49

Vogue freelance fashion photos Chicago, IL

1945

Hired by Standard Oil of New Jersey

1947

Published first book, Flash Photography

1948-1972

First black Photojournalist Life magazine, on staff until 1968, contributor until 1972

1951
Completes three years in Paris bureau of Life magazine 

1954

Began serving as a color and black and white consultant on motion picture productions in the USA and Europe

1953

Composed his first "Piano Concerto"

1960

Photographer of the Year Award The American Society of Magazine Photos

1962

Documentary Flavio filmed

Married Elizabeth Campbell Rollins(divorced 1973)

1963

Learning Tree published

1966

Notable Book Award, ALA for

A Choice of Weapons

1967

Composed "Tree Symphony"

1968

Learning Tree movie written and directed by Parks

Emmy Award for documentary, Diary of a Harlem Family

1970-73

Essence magazine editorial director

1971

Film: Shaft

Books: Whispers of Intimate Things, Born Black

1972

Film: Shaft's Big Score

Spingarn Award

1973

Married Genevieve Young (divorced 1979)

1974

Film: The Super Cops

1975

Moments Without Proper Names

1976

Film: Leadbelly

1978

Photo essay and documentary Flavio, Christopher Award

1979

To Smile in Autumn

Gordon Parks Jr., dies in plane crash in Kenya

1981

Shannon

1984

Commencement speaker at the Kansa City Art Institute; Inducted into NAACP Hall of Fame; Films Half Slave, Half Free; Solomon Northup's

Odyssey 

1986

Gordon Parks' Visions;  Kansan of the Year

1987

First  major retrospective exhibition of his photographs New York Public Library and the Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University.

1988

National Medal of the Arts; PBS Moments without Proper Names;

Kansas Arts Commission’s Distinguished Arts Award 

1989

Library of Congress National Film Registry Classics The Learning Tree

1990

Voices in the

Mirror: An Auto-

biography

1994

Arias In Silence

1996

Glimpses Toward Infinity

1997

Half-Past Autumn

Honorary Doctor of Letters,

University of the District of

Columbia

1998-2001

Half Past

Autumn: A

Retrospective.

Exhibition Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Sept. 10, 1997-Jan. 11, 1998, and nine other museums, Feb. 14, 1998-Dec. 2001.

2002

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma        Inducted into the International

Photography Hall  of Fame

Jackie Robinson Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award

2003

Sun Stalker

2004

Gordon Parks Center founded at Ft. Scott, KS

2005

A Hungry Heart: A Memoir

2005

William Allen White Foundation National Citation for journalistic merit, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

2006

Death New York City, March 7

Burial Ft. Scott, KS, March 16

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