Associated Press to Distribute Images from Historic EBONY and JET Photo Collection

The archive is considered one of the most definitive collections of visual content depicting the lives of blacks in America and around the globe.

JPC has remained the world's largest African-American-owned publishing company for more than 60 years. The first issue of its cornerstone publication, EBONY magazine, hit newsstands in 1945. Jet Magazine, the No. 1 newsweekly for African-Americans, was first published in 1951.

"Thousands of poignant images have been featured in the pages of EBONY and JET magazines, chronicling the black American experience like no other," said Johnson Publishing Co. President and CEO Linda Johnson Rice. "We are pleased to share this wealth of visual history to remind some and to educate others about the rich contributions of blacks in America and the events that changed the face of this country and beyond."

AP Images, with 3.5 million photos, is one of the world's largest collections of historical and contemporary imagery.

"When you consider the depth of AP's photo archive and the breadth of EBONY and JET magazines' definitive pictorial history of black America, this distribution arrangement brings unparalleled content to the picture-buying public," said AP Images Vice President Ian Cameron.

AP President and CEO Tom Curley announced the partnership at the AP Annual Meeting in New York.