Dorothy Foreman Cotton oral history interview conducted by Joseph Mosnier in Ithaca, New York, 2011-07-25.

Dorothy Foreman Cotton discusses growing up in rural North Carolina, attending Shaw University and Virginia State College, working as a housekeeper for the president of these colleges, Dr. Robert Prentiss Daniel, and meeting her husband, George Cotton. She discusses attending the Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg, Virginia, working with pastor Wyatt T. Walker on organizing civil rights protests and meetings, and meeting Martin Luther King, Jr. She moved to Atlanta to assist Walker in his work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, where she became Director of Education for the organization. At the Highlander Folk School, she met Septima Clark and Esau Jenkins and led the Citizenship Education Program. She also discusses the impact of King's assassination on the movement and the philosophy of nonviolence.

Summary: Dorothy Foreman Cotton discusses growing up in rural North Carolina, attending Shaw University and Virginia State College, working as a housekeeper for the president of these colleges, Dr. Robert Prentiss Daniel, and meeting her husband, George Cotton. She discusses attending the Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg, Virginia, working with pastor Wyatt T. Walker on organizing civil rights protests and meetings, and meeting Martin Luther King, Jr. She moved to Atlanta to assist Walker in his work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, where she became Director of Education for the organization. At the Highlander Folk School, she met Septima Clark and Esau Jenkins and led the Citizenship Education Program. She also discusses the impact of King's assassination on the movement and the philosophy of nonviolence.

Biographical History: Dorothy Cotton was born in 1930 in Goldsboro, North Carolina and married George Junius Cotton in 1955. She attended Shaw University, Virginia State College, and Boston University. She worked as a civil rights worker, leader, and educator.

Acquisition Note: The Civil Rights History Project is a joint project of the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture to collect video and audio recordings of personal histories and testimonials of individuals who participated in the Civil Rights movement.

Existence and Location of Copies: Copies of items are also held at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (U.S.).

Conditions Governing Access: Collection is open for research. Access to recordings may be restricted. To request materials, please contact the Folklife Reading Room at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/folklife.contact.

Related Archival Materials: Artifacts associated with the interview are at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

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1930

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

Public Domain