Lorne Cress Love
1934-2023
Born Lorne Katharine Cress in Chicago in 1934, Lorne worked with SNCC in Mississippi 1964-66. She worked in Hattiesburg and Palmer’s Crossing, Mississippi to set up a Freedom School, a small library and raise funds for playground equipment. She later worked in Jackson, Macomb, Natchez, and Walthall County, staying for a total of three years.
Returning to Chicago, Lorne was instrumental in the founding and continual programming of the Chicago Friends of SNCC. While living in Washington, DC she was program manager of Pacifica radio station WPFW. She attended the University of Illinois, was a schoolteacher in Chicago, and was a cousin of SNCC Veteran Ethel Minor.
Cress Love said her father and grandfather, both of whom were physicians, were passionate about fighting for equality. “My father told us that our grandfather spent more time fighting for the race than practicing medicine.”
Lorne died February 7, 2023 in Chicago.
