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Freedom Summer

Background:

During the summer of 1964, hundreds of Northern college students traveled to Mississippi to help register black voters and encourage participation in the Civil Rights movement. Under the direction of the Council of Federated Organizations, the predominantly white students organized health clinics, established "freedom schools" to educate black school children, and sponsored voter registration drives throughout the state. Perhaps most importantly, student volunteers helped to establish the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), which attempted to unseat the state's all-white regular delegation at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City. Although the Democratic Party ultimately seated Mississippi's regular delegation, the MFDP's bid for recognition raised awareness of voter discrimination in the Deep South and helped secure passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

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Archival Collections and Reference Resources

• Civil Rights History Project (Library of Congress)
  • Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons oral history interview conducted by Joseph Mosnier in Gainesville, Florida, 2011-09-14 (Oral histories (literary works))
  • Julia Matilda Burns oral history interview conducted by John Dittmer in Tchula, Mississippi, 2013-03-13 (Oral histories (literary works))
  • Lawrence Guyot oral history interview conducted by Julian Bond in Washington, D.C., 2010-12-30 (Oral histories (literary works))
  • Lisa Anderson Todd oral history interview conducted by Emilye Crosby in Washington, D.C., 2013-06-24 (Oral histories (literary works))
  • Martha Prescod Norman Noonan oral history interview conducted by John Dittmer in Cockeysville, Maryland, 2013-03-18 (Oral histories (literary works))
  • Rosie Head oral history interview conducted by John Dittmer in Tchula, Mississippi, 2013-03-13 (Oral histories (literary works))
  • Walter Bruce oral history interview conducted by John Dittmer in Durant, Mississippi, 2013-03-11 (Oral histories (literary works))
• Freedom Riders' 40th Anniversary Oral History Project, 2001 (John Davis Williams Library (University of Mississippi))
  • Oral history interview with Fred Clark, 2001 (Oral histories)
  • Oral history interview with Helen O'Neal McCray (1), 2001 (Oral histories)
  • Oral history interview with Helen O'Neal McCray (2), 2001 (MovingImage)
  • Oral history interview with James Forman, 2001 (MovingImage)
• Series 2515 : Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission Records Online, 1994-2006, Folders (Mississippi Department of Archives and History)
  • Madison County (Letters (correspondence))
• Series 2515 : Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission Records Online, 1994-2006, Photographs (Mississippi Department of Archives and History)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of a man without a shirt standing on the grass and two men reading beside a tree during a COFO training session for volunteers, Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of a woman standing on a sidewalk during a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of a woman wearing sunglasses and standing on a sidewalk during a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of an African American male holding a guitar alongside a white female standing on a sidewalk during a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of an African American minister and an African American female college student talking with a white male during a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of an African American woman walking on a sidewalk during a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of an unidentified female taking notes while sitting on a sidewalk with an unidentified male during a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of an unidentified male standing on a sidewalk and smoking a pipe at a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Anthony John O'Brien that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 May 5 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Bob Lines that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Daniel Adam Kline that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Dial Parrott that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Eleanor Beth Moore that accompanied her application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Eleanora Willing Patterson that accompanied her application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Fred V. Martin that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 March 30 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Gibbs Von Kinderman that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Harold Ickes that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Howard Kirschenbaum that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 March 30 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Hulbert Martin that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of James C. Ohls that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Jean Anne Konzen that accompanied her application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Jo Ann Ooiman [sic] that accompanied her application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Joseph Dean Keesecker that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 March 28 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Kenneth Kipnis that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Margaret Ann Kerr that accompanied her application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Michael L. Kogan that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Parrish Kelley that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 March 29 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Paul A. Miller that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 April 24 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Robert Pardun that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Rosa Clay (center), Mrs. Robinson (right) and an unidentified African American woman during a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Rosa Clay (right), Mrs. Robinson (center) and an unidentified African American woman during a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Sharon Gail Kaplan that accompanied her application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Shirley Jean Littlejohn that accompanied her application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Stephen LaVerne Johnson that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Susan Martin that accompanied her application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Theodore R. Jacqueney that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Tim [sic] Morrison that accompanied his application form to participate in the Council of Federated Organization's Mississippi Summer Project, Jackson, Mississippi, 1964 May 4 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of two African American males standing with a white female viewing the contents of box shown by a white male during a COFO training session for volunteers, Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of two men and a woman walking on a sidewalk during a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of two women sitting outside on a stone wall during a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of two women walking on a sidewalk during a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph of Victoria Gray [sic] standing with a group of men and women and looking at items on the ground during a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
  • Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission photograph taken up close of two women sitting outside on a stone wall during a training session for COFO volunteers in Oxford, Ohio, 1964 (Black-and-white photographs)
• WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection (Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection)
  • WSB-TV newsfilm clip of a press conference with Bob Moses and James Forman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee about the upcoming Mississippi Freedom Summer, 1964 (News)