NEH SNCC Discussion Series
Check out the full schedule of in-person and online events and learn more.
Themes
Organizing Tradition | Voting Rights | Black Power | Women & Gender | Freedom Teaching | Art & Culture
Organizing Tradition
People
Ella Baker | Sam Block | Vernon Dahmer | Carrie Dilworth | June Johnson | Colia Liddell | Worth Long | Myles Horton | Lillian McGill | Aylene Quin | Charles Sherrod
Timeline:
1940-1946: Ella Baker organizes NAACP chapters in the South
Aug. 1961: SNCC debates direct action and voter registration at Highlander
Dec. 1961: SNCC leaves McComb, Mississippi
February 1962: COFO reorganized
Fall 1962: Leflore County cuts off surplus commodities
Nov. 1963: Mississippi Freedom Vote
Summer 1964: Building the MFDP
Summer 1965: Julian Bond runs for seat in Georgia Legislature
Feb. 1965: Occupation of Greenwood Air Force Base
Fall 1965: SNCC’s voter education efforts in Lowndes County
Nov. 1966: Lowndes County Freedom Organization becomes Lowndes County Freedom Party
Our Voices: Learn Directly from SNCC Organizers
Roots of Organizing
A Conversation between SNCC Field Secretaries Worth Long & Maria Varela
Understanding a Community | Values in Organizing | Forms of Resistance
Strong People
SNCC veterans Faith Holsaert, Janie Culbreth Rambeau, Larry Rubin, Shirley Sherrod, and Annette Jones White discuss their work in the Southwest Georgia Movement
Born Into the Movement | Strong People |The Movement Never Ended
Voting Rights
People
Unita Blackwell | Amelia Boynton | C.C. Bryant | Peggy Jean Connor | Carolyn Daniels | Victoria Gray | Lawrence Guyot | Fannie Lou Hamer | Tim Jenkins | Amzie Moore | Bob Moses | Hazel Palmer
Timeline
Oct. 1960: Amzie Moore puts voter registration on SNCC’s table
Jul. 1961: Bob Moses goes to McComb, Mississippi
Apr. 1962: Voter Education Project (VEP) launches
Apr. 1962: Voter registration expands in Southwest Georgia
Feb. 1963: Lafayettes begin Selma Project
Apr. 1964: Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) founded
Summer 1964: Building the MFDP
Aug. 1964: MFDP challenge at the 1964 Democratic National Convention
Jan. 1965: MFDP Congressional Challenge
Spring 1965: Selma voting rights campaign
Aug. 1965: President Johnson signs Voting Rights Act
Apr. 1966: Lowndes County Freedom Organization founded
Our Voices: Learn Directly from SNCC Organizers
Dealing With Power
SNCC veterans discuss the Missisippi Movement for voting rights at this 2018 critical oral history session
Listen to SNCC veterans
The Black Panther
Courtland Cox and Jennifer Lawson discuss organizing in Lowndes County, Alabama
From Protest to Power | Going Into Lowndes County | Political Education
Black Power
People
Fay Bellamy | Stokely Carmichael | Courtland Cox | Fannie Lou Hamer | John Hulett | Jennifer Lawson | Jackson Family | Gwen Patton | Willie Ricks | Frank Smith | Hartman Turnbow
Timeline
1945: Black veterans return from World War II
Oct. 1960: Amzie Moore puts voter registration on SNCC’s table
Jul. 1963: Treaty of Cambridge
Aug. 1964: MFDP challenge at the 1964 Democratic National Convention
Sep. 1964: SNCC delegation travels to Africa
Feb. 1965: Occupation of Greenwood Air Force Base
Apr. 1966: Lowndes County Freedom Organization founded
May 1966: Stokely Carmichael elected as SNCC’s chair
Our Voices: Learn Directly from SNCC Organizers
Emergence of Black Power
SNCC veterans discuss the centrality of Black Power in this 2016 Critical Oral History session
Roots of Black Power | Political & Economic Power | Black Consciousness | International Awareness | Institution Building
The Black Panther
Courtland Cox and Jennifer Lawson discuss organizing in Lowndes County, Alabama
From Protest to Power | Political Education | Coming Out of Lowndes County
Internationalism
Geri Augusto, Courtland Cox, and Jennifer Lawson discuss Black Power, Drum & Spear Bookstore and Press, & Pan-Africanism
An International Consciousness | Pan-Africanism | Organizing the Sixth Pan-African Congress
Lowndes County
Residents of Lowndes County discuss the Movement and the Lowndes County Freedom Organization and Party
Alabama Black Belt | Coming Out Fighting | Strong People
Women & Gender
People
Victoria Gray Adams | Ella Baker | Prathia Hall |Fannie Lou Hamer | June Johnson | Joyce Ladner | Gloria Richardson |Judy Richardson | Ruby Doris Smith Robinson | Jean Wheeler |
Our Voices: Learn Directly from SNCC Organizers
Women in SNCC
Short videos by Judy Richardson about women in SNCC
Watch here
Freedom Teaching
Maria Varela, “What the People Want to Learn”
People
Charlie Cobb | Worth Long | Maria Varela
Inside SNCC
Freedom Schools | Political & Economic Education | Voter Education Efforts in Lowndes | SNCC Research Department
Our Voices: Learn Directly from SNCC Organizers
Learning from Experience
Maria Varela shares about developing literacy materials, filmstrips, and learning materials by the people for the people
By the People, For the People | Freedom Handbooks | Filmstrips
Roots of Organizing
A Conversation between SNCC Field Secretaries Worth Long & Maria Varela
Understanding a Community | Values in Organizing | Forms of Resistance |
The Black Panther
Jennifer Lawson & Courtland Cox discuss developing comic books and political education materials in Lowndes County
Political Education | The Work
Art & Culture
SNCC 50th Anniversary Concert
Worth Long, Charles Neblett & Bettie Mae Fikes “The Right Song at the Right Time”
People
Doris Derby | Bettie Mae Fikes | | Rutha Harris | Bernice Johnson Reagon | Worth Long | Danny Lyon | Charles Neblett | John O’Neal | Cordell Reagon | Maria Varela | Tamio Wakayama
Inside SNCC
Free Southern Theater | Photography Department | Freedom Singers | Freedom Singing | SNCC Culture
Our Voices: Learn Directly from SNCC Organizers
Learning From Experience
Maria Varela shares about developing literacy materials, filmstrips, and learning materials by the people for the people
Photos & Freedom Booklets | Filmstrips | Mrs. Hamer’s Autobiography
Singing and Music
Candie Carawan, Bettie Mae Fikes, Worth Long, Charles “Chuck” Neblett, and Hollis Watkins discuss the role of singing and music in the Movement
Bringing People Together | Spreading the Word | Facing Jail, Facing Fear | | Songs & Their Stories
Roots of Organizing
A Conversation between SNCC Field Secretaries Worth Long & Maria Varela
Economic & Cultural Organizing | Rooting in Local Culture and Empowering People
The SNCC and Grassroots Organizing: Building a More Perfect Union discussion series has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this toolkit, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
