All of his sons accompanied him as apprentice photographers at different points in his career, including Ernest, Jr., Perry O., Clarence (Joshua), E., Wendell J., Dedrick (Teddy) J., Dyral L., and Andrew (Rome).

Withers enjoyed traveling, visiting family members and entertaining guests at his home, including Brock Peters, Jim Kelly, Eartha Kitt, Alex Haley, Ivan van Sertima, Stokley Carmichael (Kwame Ture), and many others from the entertainment world and black consciousness movement.

[5] Withers was active for approximately 60 years, with his most noted work being the images captured of the Civil Rights Movement.

[citation needed] In 2013, the FBI released documents relating to Withers in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by a Memphis newspaper, The Commercial Appeal.

ME 338-R was questioned and queried for general information, and provided a total of approximately 10 photographs alongside brief descriptions of publicly known meetings and events.

[12] Civil rights leader Andrew Young commented after the release of the FBI file: "The movement was transparent and didn't have anything to hide anyway".

It was also the federal government that deployed the National Guard to protect the Little Rock Nine, which was also photographed and witnessed by Withers.

[1] The Museum features images of Ernest Withers spanning the eras of his work, while the complete archive is held in an offsite location.