Charles Cobb (left), Veteran Civil Rights Activist and Award-Winning Journalist, Featured Speaker at Freedom Summer Opening event, October 4 at 4:00.

Charles Payne (right), Sally Dalton Robinson Professor of History, African American Studies and Sociology at Duke University, Convocation Speaker, October 5 at 2:15.


A Brief History

By Barbara Machtinger

The Freedom Summer Collaborative at Bloomfield College is pleased to announce its plans and schedule for the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Freedom Summer – 1964, a summer of student and community activism aimed to bring justice to African- Americans in Mississippi. Bloomfield’s commemoration of this summer will take place in the fall of 2004.

In early 1964, SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) and local civil rights leaders, made a decision that would change the course of history. They sent student volunteers into Mississippi during the summer of 1964, a Presidential election year, for a massive voter registration drive and to bring federal attention to the increasing violence against African-Americans. This initiative became known as “Freedom Summer.” The goals of Freedom Summer were:

To expand African-American voter registration

To organize a “Freedom Democratic Party” that would challenge the “regular” whites-only Mississippi Democratic Party

To setup “Freedom Schools” to teach reading, math and history to African-American children

To create community centers where poor African-Americans could obtain legal and medical assistance

It was the unique collaboration of local leaders and student activists that ignited a powerful movement from 1960-1964 for racial justice.

In December of 2003, the History Department, in conjunction with the Office of Academic Affairs, planted the idea for a commemorative event for the 40th anniversary of Freedom Summer. Over the last three months, this idea has taken hold in fertile ground. Many members of the college community have found creative and dynamic ways to honor the activists of 1964. We believe this has happened because Freedom Summer resonates with the college’s focus on social justice, creative collaboration, and empowering all members of the college community. We invite further collaboration and hope that this schedule of events will inspire more people to become involved with the Freedom Summer Project.