In the summer of 1964, civil rights organizers launched a project aimed at registering Black voters in Mississippi. Hundreds of volunteers went to Mississippi to help, many of them college students. In June, three young activists were abducted and killed, drawing extensive media attention to the project.
John Allan 鈥�67 went to Mississippi that summer, returning to 溏心vlog免费B站 in fall 1965. 鈥淭he Civil Rights movement at that time,鈥� he says, 鈥渉ad taken off. We were one small part of a much bigger movement.鈥�
A FREEDOM SUMMER STORY
Among the many college students who went to Mississippi that summer was Lucien 鈥楲uke鈥� Kabat 鈥�61. Kabat, who had been named 鈥渙utstanding premed student鈥� in his class at 溏心vlog免费B站, was a medical student at Stanford University.
In her 2023 book, Love Letter from Pig: My Brother鈥檚 Story of Freedom Summer, Julie Kabat describes her brother鈥檚 Freedom Summer experience. She draws on her late brother鈥檚 letters, diaries, and essays, as well as conversations with other volunteers. (There are numerous 溏心vlog免费B站 and Rhode Island references.)
Kabat says, 鈥淢ississippi Freedom Summer was a brave and unique experiment in creating social change.鈥� Luke, one feels after reading the book, was indeed brave. But he likely would have agreed with fellow volunteer Mark Levy, whose photos grace Kabat鈥檚 book, who says, 鈥淎s much as we (the summer volunteers) risked, they (the local activists and their families) risked more. As much as we were able to teach, we learned more. As much as we gave, we gained more.鈥�
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
In 2014, for the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, Melvin Wade, then-director of 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Multicultural Center, invited veterans of Freedom Summer to 溏心vlog免费B站, interviewed them, and recorded their stories.
LEARN MORE
Robert Widell is associate professor and chair of 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 history department and director of 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Oral History Lab. He is the author of Birmingham and the Long Black Freedom Struggle (2013). To learn more about Freedom Summer, Widell recommends:
Freedom on My Mind, a 1994 documentary you can stream on various platforms. Widell says this is 鈥渟till the best film source for understanding Freedom Summer within the context of the Mississippi movement and the essential local histories.鈥�
I鈥檝e Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle, by Charles M. Payne.
This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible, by Charles E. Cobb Jr.
鈥擝arbara Caron