Mississippi Freedom Project

Scope and Contents Arthur Gatti is an author and poet with a long history of involvement in activism and community organizing. In the interview, he discusses his life growing up in Queens, NY in an Italian American household and how he gained political consciousness and awareness through his experiences and the influence of his friends. One friendship he talks about at length is his relationship with Mario “Bob” Savio who later became known for his leadership role in the Free Speech Movement which originated...

Abstract

The Barbara (Jones) Omolade Collection documents civil rights activism on the Queens College campus during the 1960s, including the Freedom Week Events of 1964. This collection also provides material pertaining to the Mississippi Summer Project of 1964 and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Scope and Contents Dorothy “Dottie” Zellner (born in 1938) discusses growing up in Manhattan as the daughter of immigrants in a Left, Jewish family in Manhattan. She recalls being a young child during the second World War, when Nazi hatred of Jews and the potential for Germany to attack the United States were experienced as imminent threats. Zellner discusses how McCarthyism affected her family in the late 1940s through the 1950s, and her experience at Music and Art High School, which she attended from...