Our History
Inspired by SNCC’s commitment to grass roots organizing , participatory democracy based on the self worth of and a belief in the ability of people to empower themselves to change their lives, in 2004, the Chicago SNCC History Project formed to create a three part programIt began by hosting a national conference, “Tell the Story: The Chicago SNCC History Project, 1960 – 1965”, October 21-22, 2005 at Roosevelt University in Chicago. The second part of the project was to begin the collecting of the oral histories of those involved with SNCC/CAFSNCC not just leaders but ordinary, people who stamped envelopes, made and carried picket signs, demonstrated and gave of their time thereby creating a mass movement that changed Chicago’s history. The third and final part was creating an archive of the stories and memorabilia of the period. The archive is housed in the Vivian C. Harsh Collection of African America History at Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, 9525 South Halsted, Chicago, Illinois. In October of 2010, there will be an exhibit and the formal opening of the archive to the public at Carter G. Woodson Library.
To date, we have held and recorded a very successful conference that included stirring performances by the internationally known SNCC Freedom Singers, presentations/ song workshops by the Freedom Singers, talks and workshops given by Charlie Cobb Jr. and members of the Chicago SNCC History Project. We have conducted videotaped, oral history interviews with Curtis Hayes Muhammed, Loren Cress Love, Bob Zellner and key activists that were a part of CAFSNCC, Sylvia Fischer, Quentin Young, Don Rose, Rosie Simpson, Ron Dorfman, Richard Morrisroe, Bennett Johnson, Mavis Staples, Tim Black and others. These are all catalogued and part of the archive we are creating at Woodson. We also spent two years doing an oral history project in the Chicago Public High Schools of DuSable, Phillips and Hyde Park. The interviews conducted by the students we worked with in these schools are now also at Carter Woodson. We are continuing to do interviews and to collect the memorabilia of the period. The project will come to a close with the official opening of the archive in October of 2010 at Carter Woodson Regional Library in Chicago, Illinois.
The Chicago SNCC History Project will be going to the SNCC 50th Anniversary in Raleigh, North Carolina with two purposes. We, the Chicago SNCC History Project, will be interviewing and filming, along with three people from the Chicago Freedom School, including two students and one staff person who will also be involved in interviewing and filming. There is a possibility that we will have two interns to add to the project crew. All of this is subject to the fund raising we are doing. We want to do videotape, oral history, interviews with a list of people who were involved with CAFSNCC and the work of CAFSNCC during the period of 1960-1965. The second purpose is to videotape the event for our archives. We will arrive in Raleigh, North Carolina on April 13, 2009 in order to get set up and to take advantage of this time to interview early arrivals.
