Civil rights oral history project.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Abstract: Civil Rights Oral History Project, is an ongoing effort documenting more than 100 oral history interviews with local and nationally distinguished participants on topics such as the 1960 Nashville student lunch counter sit-in movement, the formation of civil rights organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Highlander Folk School, training sessions in the methods of nonviolent change, desegregating movie theatres and public facilities, the bombing of Z. Alexander Looby's home, civil rights demonstrations, social resistance, and the integration of schools and higher education.

Scope and content: Audiotaped, videotaped, and transcribed interviews with civil rights veterans, community members, journalists, police officers, observers, students, church leaders, and citizen activists recalling events related to the civil rights movement in Nashville and Tennessee during the 1950s and 1960s. The interviews contain vivid descriptions of segregation, the local response to the Supreme Court school desegregation case of Brown, et al v Topeka Board of Education, training sessions in the methods of nonviolent change, the Nashville student lunch counter sit-in movement, the downtown economic boycott, the role of the church, Highlander Folk School, student participation, community support, response of local merchants, and organizations, such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC)

Nashville Public Library retains intellectual property rights to this collection. Some restrictions may apply.

Interviews with numerous individuals conducted by library staff and volunteers.

Finding aid available in repository;,folder level control

The Civil Rights Oral History Project began at the Nashville Public Library in July 2002 with financial support from the Robin and Bill King Foundation, who envisioned the project as a supporting collection for the Civil Rights Room, located in the Nashville Room.