VUS.13a.8

Interview with Dr. Sandra Adickes (1999)
(University of Southern Mississippi: Civil Rights in Mississippi Digital Archive)


Description
This resource is a transcribed interview with a white teacher from New York who became interested in southern desegregation efforts after the Brown v. Board of Education decision and taught in freedom schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia during the Massive Resistance era. She also participated in the Mississippi Freedom Summer project and was jailed along with certain African American colleagues for her participation in efforts to integrate the Hattiesburg, Mississippi public library. Her comments and experiences offer a good starting point for student discussion of the reasons for and significance of white participation in the Civil Rights Movement.
Teaching Tips

"Do Now" Suggestions

  1. With the audio links, the teacher could play an excerpt for the students and ask them to respond to Dr. Adickes' words in a journal entry. (The teacher could do a similar exercise by simply giving the students a written excerpt from the interview transcript, but that is not quite as much fun for the students.)

Suggestions for Using this Resource as Part of a Lesson

  1. The interviews with Dr. Adickes and Miss Austin offer students a good opportunity to compare the experiences of an African-American and a white teacher during desegregation. The students can read the 2 interviews and record their ideas in a Comparison Organizer. (If the teacher prefers, he/she can identify themes on which to focus. For example: views on desegregation, obstacles faced during career, participation in civil rights organizations, etc.)