Special Collections

Finding Aid for the Freedom Riders’ 40th Anniversary Oral History Project
(MUM00058)

Questions? Contact us!

Finding Aid for the Freedom Riders’ 40th Anniversary Oral History Project

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Individuals involved in the taping, interviewing, and overall success of the freedom riders 40th anniversary oral history
project include: Prof. David Wharton, Joe York, Amy C. Evans, Tiffany Hamlin, Evan Hatch, Susan Glisson, April Grayson, Mary
Beth Lasseter, Warren Ables, and Mary Hartwell Howorth.

University departments responsible: The Center for the Study of Southern Studies, the William Winter Institute for Racial
Reconciliation, and the University of Mississippi Media & Documentary Productions.

Processing Information

Collection digitized by the University of Mississippi Media & Documentary Productions and processed by Pamela Williamson.

Additions

No further additions are expected to this collection.

Alternative Formats

The Freedom Riders’ 40th Anniversary Oral History Project is available as a digital collection: https://clio.lib.olemiss.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/freedom_riders

Subject Terms

Formats

Biographical Note

Freedom Riders were young civil rights activists who planned to ride interstate buses from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans,
LA in the summer of 1961 to test the United States Court decision Boynton v. Virginia. The decision gave interstate travelers the legal right to disregard local segregation laws regarding interstate transportation
facilities. The first ride left Washington, D.C. on May 4, 1961 and was met with extreme amounts of violence in Alabama, so
much in fact that most of the riders agreed to fly to New Orleans instead of continuing on. This did not stop the rides or
the violence and on May 24th riders boarded buses for Jackson, MS. When they arrived, riders were arrested for using “whites-only”
facilities and imprisoned in Parchman Penitentiary.

User Information

Prefered Citation

Freedom Riders’ 40th Anniversary Oral History Project, Archives and Special Collections, J.D. Williams Library, The
University of Mississippi

Access Restrictions

The Freedom Riders’ 40th Anniversary Oral History Project is open for research. Patrons are encouraged to use the digital
collection, available: https://clio.lib.olemiss.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/freedom_riders

Copyright Restrictions

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the
making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under
certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized
to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions
is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other
than private study, scholarship or research.” If a user makes a request for, or
later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use”,
that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

Related Material

Resources at the University of Mississippi

For more Civil Rights related materials housed at the University of Mississippi Archives & Special Collections, see our Civil Rights & Race Relations subject guide.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically according to interviewee.

Container List