Digital Collection
Freedom Summer was a nonviolent effort by civil rights activists to integrate Mississippi's segregated political system during 1964. Planning began late in 1963 when the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) decided to recruit several hundred northern college students, mostly white, to work in Mississippi during the summer. They helped African-American residents try to register to vote, establish a new political party, and learn about history and politics in newly-formed Freedom Schools.
This digital collection allows free access to over 40,000 pages of material from organizations and individuals who were a part of Freedom Summer 1964.
Prominent National Civil Rights Collections
Congress on Racial Equality records, 1941-1967
Records of a national inter-racial organization of semi-autonomous groups dedicated to the use of non-violent direct action to combat racial discrimination. Note that WHS also houses collections from several CORE chapters nationwide.
Papers of Daisy Bates, a civil rights activist who as a former head of the Arkansas NAACP was a leading figure in the desegregation of the Little Rock schools in 1957.
Highlander Research and Education Center Records, 1917-2005
Records of the Highlander Research and Education Center, 1917-2005, an adult education center, and its predecessor, the Highlander Folk School, documenting its programs and workshops including labor, civil rights, and Appalachian poverty, and the harassment of Highlander by government agencies.
Students for a Democratic Society Records, 1958-1970
A national organization of students founded in 1960 that provided much of the force and direction for the New Left during the 1960s. Worked on a broad range of progressive causes and had significant ties with SNCC and CORE.
How To Access
All materials are findable via the UW-Madison Libraries catalog. Archival collections with electronic finding aids are linked at the bottom of the library catalog record, or search across all finding aids here.
Search Tips
Combine search terms in the linked search bar. Examples that may be helpful include individual names (Vel Phillips, Daisy Bates, etc), organizations (SNCC, CORE, etc.), and keywords (freedom summer, fair housing, segregation, etc.).
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