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Cage 683
Civil Rights Oral History
Interviews, 2001

The civil rights oral history interviews were donated to MASC by Rebecca Nappi in March, 2002. The collection consists of five cassette tapes, five newspaper clippings, and a folder of printed transcripts of the tapes. All images are used courtesy of the Spokesman Review. Mark O'English processed the collection in September, 2002. Trevor Bond, Special Collections Librarian, edited the guide.

PROJECT HISTORY

In February of 2001, the 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.

ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION

The tapes are arranged alphabetically by interviewee. An exception occurs where two or three interviewees were recorded on the same cassette (Numbers 2 & 5), making eight interviews on five 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 may click on the pictures below to hear flash presentations of the oral histories.

Also in the collection are two folders, one containing newspaper clippings from 1965 and 2001, and one containing printed transcripts of all of the interviews.

CONTAINER LIST

Tape	Interviewee	Subject	Length as Minutes: Seconds
1	Brown, Emelda and Manuel	Emelda and Manuel Brown talk about their experiences with racial prejudice while raising a family in Spokane, Washington in the 1960s.	32:18
2	Side 1 Freeman, Clarence	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.	7:50
	Side 2: Minnix, Sam	Sam Minnix describes the scene during a civil rights demonstration at the Spokane County Courthouse on Friday March 26, 1965.	13:50
3	Lofton, Verda	Verda Lofton relates her impression of the March 26, 1965 Spokane civil rights protest.	9:44
4	Schulke, Flip	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.	45:01
5	Side 1: Williamson, Jerrelene	Jerrelene Williamson relates her sense of the civil rights movement in Spokane to events in Alabama.	10:53
	Side 2: Pitmon, Alvin	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.	7:45
	Nelson, Nancy	Nancy Nelson sings two civil rights spirituals: My Lord, What a Morning and Let Us Break Bread Together	2:17

Folder	Description
1	Newspaper Clippings. 1965, 2001
2	Transcripts. Brown, Freeman, Lofton, Minnix, Nelson, Pitmon, Sculke, Williamson
3	Administrative File