2.2 Freedom summer, legislation, and key actors & groups

Freedom Summer

In 1964, civil rights organizations including the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) and Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organized a voter registration drive, known as the Mississippi Summer Project, or Freedom Summer, aimed at dramatically increasing voter registration in Mississippi. The Freedom Summer, comprised of black Mississippians and more than 1,000 out-of-state, predominately white volunteers, faced constant abuse and harassment from Mississippi’s white population. The Ku Klux Klan, police and even state and local authorities carried out a systematic series of violent attacks; including arson, beatings, false arrest and the murder of at least three civil rights activists.

Key Actors

Martin Luther King

Malcolm X

Lyndon B Johnsson

Key Groups

COFC

SCLC

CORE

SNCC

USSR

NUL

VEP

DNC

MFDP

NOI

Flashcards