This collection is open for research use.
In February of 2001, the Spokane Spokesman-Review produced a month long series of articles on black history, focusing in particular on the civil rights movement of the 1960s. As part of that series, Rebecca Nappi conducted a series of interviews with individuals with ties to both the civil rights movement and to Spokane. Some of these interviews were made available at the time in audio format on the Spokesman-Review website, and excerpts from these interviews were used in writing newspaper articles.
The collection consists of five cassette tapes, five newspaper clippings, and a folder of printed transcripts of the tapes. Topics include civil rights activities and race relations in Spokane Washington, the influence of Dr. Martin Luther King, racism and protests in the deep south, and civil rights spirituals.
You can listen to these interviews online through Washington State University Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections website at http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/cvoralhist
[Item Description]. Cage 683, Civil Rights Oral History Interviews. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
| Container(s) | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| tape | ||
| 1 |
Emelda and Manuel Brown talk
about their experiences with racial prejudice while raising a family in
Spokane, Washington in the 1960s.
Length:
32:18
|
|
| side | ||
| 2 | 1 |
Clarence Freeman discusses his
reaction to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King and the reaction of the
community of Spokane. He also talks briefly about a childhood experience with
prejudice in Spokane.
Length:
7:50
|
| 2 | 2 |
Sam Minnix describes the scene
during a civil rights demonstration at the Spokane County Courthouse on Friday
March 26, 1965.
Length:
13:50
|
| 3 |
Verda Lofton relates her
impression of the March 26, 1965 Spokane civil rights protest.
Length:
9:44
|
|
| 4 |
Flip Schulke describes about his
experiences photographing race related stories in the south. He mentions
photographing the admission of the first black student, James Meredith, into
the University of Mississippi and the results of the assassination of Martin
Luther King on the protests and marches. He finishes by discussing the
differences between the youth of the 60s and the youth of today, and the legacy
of the protest movements.
Length:
45:01
|
|
| side | ||
| 5 | 1 |
Jerrelene Williamson relates her
sense of the civil rights movement in Spokane to events in Alabama.
Length:
10:53
|
| 5 | 2 |
Alvin Pitmon talks about his
experiences with prejudice in Arkansas during the forced integration of schools
in the 1960s. He discusses his feelings towards Dr. Martin Luther King and the
effect Dr. King had on him.
Length:
7:45
|
| 5 | 2 |
Nancy Nelson sings two civil
rights spirituals: My Lord, What a Morning and Let Us Break Bread
Together
Length:
2:17
|
Container(s): Folder 1
Container(s): Folder 2
