Charlotte’s Don Sturkey, once one of the nation’s best news photographers, dies at 93
Don Sturkey’s photography is a treasure trove of timeless Carolina imagery.
Sturkey, the longtime chief photographer of The Charlotte Observer, died Saturday at the age of 93. He still lived on his own at the house he had shared with his late wife, Rachel, in Belmont.
I first met Don when I interned with The Charlotte Observer in 1988.
It’s funny what we remember from our first meetings with people. He commanded respect. He wore long-sleeved shirts with ties and trousers with dress shoes. His desk was at the end of a long conference table in the photo department and the drawers were always locked. How do I know the drawers were locked? The other photographers told me.
Don was a mentor and friend.
I worked with Don for only a year and a half or so before he retired. I relished hearing the stories that he, Jeep Hunter, Tommy Franklin and Don Hunter would share from their careers. They were the “Dream Team.” So much talent and to me any insight or editing I could get from them was priceless.
Don edited my William Randolph Hearst award entry. He helped select the images and then meticulously sent me back and forth to print the photographs until he approved. I never disagreed with Don Sturkey.
His career was a travel log from Western North Carolina to the coast. One summer, he traveled Highway 17 with staff writer Elizabeth Leland telling memorable human interest stories.
Any person of note who came into the Carolinas during his 40-year career was photographed by Don Sturkey. He photographed John F. Kennedy on the campaign trail, Lyndon B. Johnson sitting on the porch of a tenant farmer in Rocky Mount, Richard Nixon, Billy Graham, Pope John Paul II, Satchel Paige, Elvis Presley and Carl Sandburg. The photograph of Sandburg is of him playing his guitar backstage prior to his last public performance in 1962, and it is so beautiful.
To me, Don’s most powerful image is published in his book, “A Slice of Time.” The photo is from the integration of the Charlotte public school system with Dorothy Counts walking to Harding High School in 1957, her head held high. This photograph is a case study in so many ways to a time and place but also to the strength of a young girl. “That morning, she was the embodiment of courage and coolness under fire,” Don wrote. I’m so glad that Don was there to capture this image but more importantly, thank you to Dorothy Counts for her bravery and strength.
A photograph was taped to the hallway door in the photo department that showed Don leaving for the last time. The notation read “Hail to the Chief.”
Jeff Siner has been a photographer at The Charlotte Observer since 1989.
This story was originally published February 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM.