Oral History

Calvin Trillin: Riding the First Bus into Jackson

In Oral History on 24 May 2008 with 3 comments

The first Freedom Riders arrived in Jackson, MS, forty-seven years ago today. Twelve Riders came on the first bus to the Trailways station. A second bus later the same day brought another fifteen Riders. The Mississippi segment of the rides — with its emphasis on “jail no bail” and goal of overloading Jackson’s city and […]

Return to Anniston: The Mother’s Day Firebombing

In Oral History on 8 May 2008 tagged Anniston, Hank Thomas, Violence with 1 comment

A sophomore at Howard University, Hank Thomas was one of the original 13 Freedom Riders who left Washington, DC, on May 4, 1961, heading south. Though they encountered some violence in Rock Hill, SC, they made their way without major incident through Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. On Mother’s Day — May 14 — 1961, […]

James Lawson: Gandhi, Jesus and Mom

In Oral History on 5 May 2008 tagged CORE, Gandhi, nonviolence with 3 comments

James Lawson may be the most important Civil Rights leader you’ve never heard of. He was a leading proponent and teacher of nonviolence, the idea at the heart of the movement’s strategy. He started teaching a weekly workshop on nonviolence in Nashville in 1959. From these sessions would come the Nashville Student Movement and, in […]