No one can tell the civil rights story better than those who lived through the struggle. Explore our video library to learn more about the heroes, events and places that changed our world.
VIDEO GALLERY
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Wanda Howard Battle Interview – Montgomery, AL
“When the cause for what you believe in becomes greater than the cost, you can answer the call no matter the cost.” – Wanda Howard Battle Wanda Howard Battle, tour director at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, talks about how the church served as a headquarters for civil rights activists Vernon Johns and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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Sybil Jordan Hampton Interview – Little Rock, AR
“It was my hopes and dreams and goals, but also my commitment to being in the struggle for my people, being able to keep my head up high.” – Sybil Jordan Hampton Sybil Jordan Hampton talks about being a part of the second group of African-American students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the segregation of public schools was unconstitutional.
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Rev. Arthur Price Jr. Interview – Birmingham, AL
“We believe that the events that happened here in 1963 galvanized a generation and motivated a movement.” – Rev. Arthur Price Jr. The Rev. Arthur Price Jr. talks about the history of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, from the day it was built by the first African-American architect in Alabama to the day it was tragically bombed by white supremacists.
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Leslie-Burl McLemore Interview – Jackson, MS
“We were doing something important, and we were changing Mississippi. We were changing the world.” – Leslie-Burl McLemore Leslie-Burl McLemore talks about the Freedom Summer of 1964 and how civil rights activists in Jackson, Mississippi, helped bring media attention to the racial injustices happening in the state.
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Elaine Lee Turner Interview – Memphis, TN
“It didn’t matter whether we were arrested or not. We knew we had to continue the fight.” – Elaine Lee Turner Elaine Lee Turner talks about how she and her sisters dedicated themselves to peaceful protests to help the Civil Rights Movement gain momentum in Memphis, Tennessee.
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David Jordan Interview – Sumner, MS
“This trial was just a mockery of justice.” – David Jordan Mississippi State Sen. David Jordan talks about witnessing the Emmett Till murder trial in Sumner, Mississippi, and how the ruling served as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.
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Betty Strong Boynton Interview – Selma, AL
“I have never been so scared in all of my life. That’s my experience. I was marching so my parents could get better jobs.” – Betty Strong Boynton Betty Strong Boynton talks about marching for voting rights in Selma, Alabama, on the day that became known as Bloody Sunday after state troopers and local white supremacists attacked the unarmed protesters.
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Bruce Boynton Interview – Richmond, VA
“It produced the Freedom Riders, it inspired the lunch counter sit-ins and, as I said, changed the way that black people fought for their civil rights.” – Bruce Boynton Bruce Boynton talks about the Supreme Court case of Boynton v. Virginia that ruled the Interstate Commerce Act not only prohibited segregation of public transportation but also racial discrimination at the stations and at restaurants on the premises.
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Robert Tyrone Patterson Sr. Interview – Greensboro, NC
“This should have happened a long time ago, and I’m going to do as much as I can to make sure that my kids don’t have to go through this.” – Robert Tyrone Patterson Sr. Robert Tyrone Patterson Sr. talks about participating in lunch counter sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina, and his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement from 1960 to 1963.
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Katherine Sawyer Interview – Topeka, KS
“I’ve had black teachers all my life. Now, there wasn’t one. I didn’t know what to expect.” – Katherine Sawyer Katherine Sawyer talks about her experience testifying in the Supreme Court case of Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, which ruled that “separate but equal” did not apply to public education, and the effects of the ruling.
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Bernard LaFayette Jr. Interview – Nashville, TN
“We educated people. That’s what the demonstrations were about – not agitation, it was education.” – Bernard LaFayette Jr. Bernard LaFayette Jr. talks about coordinating sit-ins while a student at American Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee, actions that led to the union of college students all across the city in non-violent activism.
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Dorothy Lockett Holcomb Interview – Farmville, VA
“I was really devasted because I loved school, and I didn’t know what I was going to do.” – Dorothy Lockett Holcomb Dorothy Lockett Holcomb talks about her difficulty in finding public education in Farmville, Virginia, after the local schools chose to shut their doors in 1959 rather than integrate.
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Bernard LaFayette Jr. Interview – Montgomery, AL
“That’s the whole idea of a movement. You keep moving, no matter what happens.” – Bernard LaFayette Jr. Bernard LaFayette Jr. talks about the mob attack the Freedom Riders experienced in Montgomery, Alabama, while they were waiting for transportation out of the city, which prevented them from reaching their final stop in New Orleans.
