We found 9 items that match your search
An Activist Explains the Conflicted Role of Women in the March on Washington
Dorothy Height became active in civil rights causes in the 1930s, working towards anti-lynching legislation, desegregation of the military, and other issues. In 1957 she was elected the president of the National Council of Negro Women, and was the [...]
An African American Tells Why She Followed Malcolm X
Ethel Minor offers her perspective on the black freedom struggle in this 1997 interview with Catherine Osborn. A follower of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, Minor found the integrationist aims of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his followers [...]
Bayard Rustin Reflects on the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
In this oral history Bayard Rustin offers his opinion about why the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, held on August 28, 1963, was a success. Rustin was an organizer of the march along with many others, including A. Philip Randolph, an [...]
A New York City Teacher Recalls an Effort to Integrate a Mississippi Library
Sandra Adickes was a New York City high school teacher who worked during the summers of 1963 and 1964 at "freedom schools" in Virginia and Mississippi. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organized these freedom schools as a way to [...]
A SNCC Activist Describes Police Intimidation in the Voter Registration Campaign
The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) enlisted young people and local leaders to register and encourage southern African Americans to vote during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Because the young organizers faced tremendous [...]
Fannie Lou Hamer Recalls the Mississippi Voter Registration Campaign
Fannie Lou Hamer, the last of 20 children and a Mississippi tenant farmer, leapt to national prominence during the 1964 Democratic National Convention, when she eloquently challenged Mississippi's segregated Democratic primary on national [...]
An African-American Woman Describes Segregated Buses in Montgomery, Alabama
During the Montgomery bus boycott, researchers from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee visited Montgomery to learn more about the boycott and document it. Researcher Willie Lee interviewed an African-American woman who worked as a domestic, who [...]
Pat Bond Describes the Military Purge of LGBTQ+ Service Members
Pat Bond was a member of the Women’s Army Corps (a WAC) during World War II. As a lesbian, she risked a “blue discharge” from the army if she was discovered. Blue discharges were highly stigmatized penalties for alleged dishonorable behavior [...]
Perry Watkins Describes his Mistreatment by the Army
Perry Watkins was a gay African American soldier who was drafted to serve in the army during the Vietnam War. He was open about his sexuality throughout his entire career. Despite this, in 1981, the army revoked his security clearance after 13 years [...]