Ekwueme Michael Thelwell oral history interview conducted by Emilye Crosby in Pelham, Massachusetts, 2013-08-23.

Summary: Ekueme Michael Thelwell remembers his time as a student activist at Howard University and his experiences with the Nonviolent Action Group (NAG), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). Working primarily out of Washington, D.C., Thelwell marched in and organized demonstrations and made major contributions to SNCC and MFDP strategy around voter registration and the MFDP's 1965 effort to challenge the seating of the Mississippi congressional delegation. He details the developing MFDP strategy, his attempts to navigate Washington politics, and his relationships with various figures involved in the effort.

Biographical History: Dr. Ekwueme Michael Thelwell is a scholar, activist, writer, and administrator at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He served as a staff member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and worked as a civil rights activist in the deep South and in Washington, D.C.

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.

civil rights movements african american civil rights workers interviews mississippi student nonviolent coordinating committee us mississippi freedom democratic party nonviolent action group filmed interviews oral histories pelham ekwueme michael thelwell ekwueme michael thelwell history interview history interview emilye crosby emilye crosby massachusetts civil rights history project us civil rights history project american folklife center michael thelwell film video high resolution race relations african americans

01/01/2013

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

Public Domain