Lesson Plans
Today in the 21st Century, when mass marches in the nation’s capitol are commonplace, it is hard to imagine how radical Randolph’s threat of 100,000 Black protesters descending on Washington seemed to the political establishment.

Courtland Cox Remembers the March on Washington

My involvement with the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (MOW) began some 10 weeks before the August 28 gathering.

Charlie Cobb Remembers the March on Washington

As many observe the anniversary of the 1963 march, there has been a great deal of celebration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream and of black and white feet dangling together in the reflecting pool, while the violent climate below the Mason-Dixon line has largely been forgotten.

Joyce Ladner Remembers the March on Washington

What I remember most is standing on the podium looking out at the 250,000 people. It was a sight to behold.

Dorie Ladner Remembers the March on Washington

For me, as a daughter of Mississippi, the March helped to stir my thoughts about where the rest of my life was headed.

Doug Harris Remembers the March on Washington

In the summer of 1963 my Hofstra College roommate, Roger Sencer, drove me to the Atlanta Georgia SNCC headquarters, for my new life as an SNCC volunteer.

Cleveland Sellers Remembers the March on Washington

I decided to volunteer for the March and was assigned to the headquarters tent on the grounds of the Washington Monument, where the buses would park and let out their passengers.

Dorothy Zellner Remembers the March on Washington

What struck me most was not only the overwhelming peacefulness of the event but the extreme dignity and "upstandingness," if there is such a word, of the hundreds of thousands of mostly Black people who were there.

Frank Smith Remembers the March on Washington

I came to Washington fresh from Greenwood, where I had been arrested once again in June along with Bob Moses, Lawrence Guyot, and others for trying to help local people exercise their Constitutional right to vote.

Riding the ”Freedom Train” to the March on Washington

SNCC Veteran Karen Edmonds Spellman recounts her summer of 1963 experience as a volunteer with the New Haven, CT. March on Washington, a coalition of churches, students, and NAACP members set up to recruit people to attend the March on Washington.

Larry Rubin Remembers the March on Washington

We arrived at the March and saw up and down the Reflecting Pool people everywhere. We quickly understood it was the largest march ever!

Bruce Hartford Remembers the March on Washington

Today, history knows how the march turned out, but as we rolled south that night we had no clue what we were headed into.

John Lewis: March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom

Original draft of SNCC’s March on Washington Speech. Delivered by SNCC’s Chairman, John Lewis, on August 28, 1963.

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SNCC: The Importance of its Work, the Value of its Legacy

SNCC Staff singing a Freedom Song in SNCC’s National office (Atlanta,1963). They are wearing coats because there was no heat. L-R: Mike Sayer, MacArthur Cotton, James Forman, Rick Manning, Marion Barry, Lester McKinnie, Mike Thelwell, Lawrence Guyot, Eric Jones, John Lewis (behind Jones), Julian Bond (far right rear with cigarette), Judy Richardson, Jean Wheeler. [Photo: Danny Lyon]
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Protest: Origins, Resistance, Legacy
Middle Passage and Transatlantic Origins

“If the Atlantic were to dry up, it would reveal a scattered pathway of human bones, African bones marking the various routes of the Middle Passage. But those who did survive multiplied and have contributed to the creation of a new human society in the Americas and the Caribbean. It is a testament to the vitality and fortitude of the Africans that ten to twenty million lived through the heinous ordeal that many consider the greatest crime ever committed against a people in human history.” --- John Henrik Clarke

SNCC Legacy Project DMP

OUR WORK

SNCC, along with the local NAACP and CORE chapters, SCLC and many local organizations ended barriers to voting rights, beginning with the work of people at the grassroots levels who registered to vote and who challenged white supremacy at risk to their own lives and violence to their friends and family.

VOTING RIGHTS

SNCC, along with the local NAACP and CORE chapters, SCLC and many local organizations ended barriers to voting rights, beginning with the work of people at the grassroots levels who registered to vote and who challenged white supremacy at risk to their own lives and violence to their friends and family.

Black Voter Suppression

Reading Introduction: A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF VOTING RIGHTS IN AMERICA The Shape Shifting face of Black Voter Suppression. In this article,...

Voting Rights Act: Beyond the Headlines

Reading Introduction: A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF VOTING RIGHTS IN AMERICA Grasping the power of the SNCC Legacy lies in our ability...

AFTER 1970

After 1970, the struggle for human and civil rights continued because of the early organizing work in the south. This work gave SNCC Organizers the confidence to continue their contributions in many different areas, including culture, education, administration, and politics.

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Movement History

SNCC was originally founded to coordinate campus groups who were engaged in sit-ins across the country. Within the period of two years, it evolved into an organization focused on the negation of voting rights for millions of Black People throughout the South. As an organization of organizers, SNCC engaged in a range of activities, including Freedom Schools, Labor Organization, Poor People's Corporation, Free Southern Theater, and other creative ways to solve the problems of the Black Community.

In addition, some students left their colleges and universities to become full-time grassroots organizers. It’s important to note that Ms. Ella Baker’s vast body of experience and extensive the NAACP network opened up access to those working in SNCC.

SNCC Photographers

SNCC, through its photographic and research department, documented like no other organization in the history of the movement for human and civil rights during the 1960s. This area features ten SNCC Photographers’ Work.

Clifford A. Vaughs
Clifford A. Vaughs
Danny Lyon
Danny Lyon
Doug Harris
Doug Harris
Doy Garton
Doy Garten

Culture Of The Movement

SNCC helped expand the environment of freedom that had existed since the first Africans were offloaded and sold into slavery. The 1960’s Movement helped tap into this energy. Through Movement culture for freedom was expressed and expanded in song, poetry, dance movement, visual portrayals, literature, and written and spoken word.

ARCHIVE

Provides access to the files, work, oral interviews, photos, and documentation. SNCC, as a result of its focus on documentation, has available 250 + archives. No other organization has documented the history of the movement and struggle to this magnitude. Without this documentation, this portion of history would be unknown. This Archive enables SNCC to pass on information wealth to young people, organizers, scholars, and organizations looking for guidelines to see struggle on a comprehension level. It allows ordinary people to see the efforts of SNCC and take control of their lives.

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Teaching in Dangerous Times: Lessons from SNCC

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Taking Our Power Back: Voting Down the Ballot

Taking Our Power Back: Voting Down the Ballot September 16, 2020 by Zakiyaa Taylor This election season, we know that most folks are paying very close...

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What is the
SNCC LEGACY PROJECT?

The SNCC Legacy Project (SLP) was established after the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of SNCC to collect, present history, and analyze the organization’s work from the inside out emphasizing the thinking of SNCC veterans.

SLP also issues statements from time to time on issues pertinent to the Black community today and supportive of the Movement for Black Lives.

Since its founding, SLP has begun expanding its work to include assisting today’s young activists in documenting, defining, and making available to activists and scholars their work and struggle.

The SLP website is updated on a regular basis.

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