Overview of the Item |
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| Repository: | The HistoryMakers | |
| 1900 S. Michigan Avenue | ||
| Chicago, Illinois 60616 | ||
| (312) 674-1900 | ||
| info@thehistorymakers.com | ||
| http://www.thehistorymakers.com | ||
| Interviewer: | Larry Crowe | |
| Videographer: | Scott Stearns | |
| Title: | Video Oral History Interview with James Bevel | |
| Dates: | January 14, 2003 | |
| Abstract: | (ABSTRACT) | |
| Quantity: | 5 Betacam SP videocassettes, 1 half-Hollinger box containing (NUMBER) folders of accompanying materials. | |
| Identification: | A2003.004 | |
| Language: | The interviews and records are in English | |
Civil rights activist the Reverend James Luther Bevel was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, on October 19, 1936. After a stint in the service, Bevel was called to the ministry and enrolled in the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. There, he joined the Nashville chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) led by the Reverend James Lawson.
In 1960, Bevel and other black students trained by Lawson, including John Lewis, Dianne Nash, Marion Barry and Bernard Lafayette, organized sit-ins against segregated lunch counters. The students won a hard-fought, nonviolent victory. Then, as chairman of the Nashville student movement, Bevel participated in Freedom Rides to desegregate interstate travel and public accommodations throughout the South. In his home state, Bevel created the SCLC Mississippi Project for voting rights in 1962. However, in 1963, he was compelled to join the stalled desegregation struggle waged by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth in Birmingham, Alabama. When King was jailed, Bevel organized black children and marched against Commissioner Bull Connor's fire hoses and police dogs. The "Children's Crusade" led by Bevel turned the media tide in their favor. Bevel brainstormed the March On Washington in 1963 and the Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery march in 1965. He also worked behind the scenes on the Chicago open housing movement in 1966, the anti-Vietnam War movement in 1967, the Memphis sanitation workers strike and the Poor People's Campaign in 1968.
In 1969, Bevel left SCLC and created the Making of a Man Clinic in 1970. In the 1980s and 1990s, he founded Students for Education and Economic Development (SEED). In 1992, he ran for vice president on a ticket with Lyndon LaRouche. Bevel is pastor of the Hebraic-Christian-Islamic Assembly in Chicago; a board member of Chicago's Fulfilling Our Responsibilities Unto Mankind (F.O.R.U.M.); and chairman of the Camden, New Jersey, County Economic Development Board. Bevel is Pastor and adviser to Chicago's Council of Mothers, West Side Baptist Minister's Conference, WorkShip Coalition and the Nation of Islam.
Biographical Note by The HistoryMakers®
This life oral history interview with James Bevel was conducted by Larry Crowe on 2003-01-14 in Chicago, Illinois and is recorded on 5 30-minute Betacam SP videocassettes. Access copies exist on Betacam SP, VHS, DVD and MPEG-1. The interview contains information on (COMPLETE ONE SENTENCE DESCRIPTION OF INTERVIEW). Accompanying materials in the collection include James Bevel's correspondence with The HistoryMakers® related to the interview; a copy of the signed release form and the production report; the biographical information used by the interviewer to prepare for the interview (DETAILS); paper copies of the interview transcripts, 3 1/2" floppy disks with electronic copies of the transcripts; selected quotes for video clips; photocopies of photographs captured on video; XML files with metadata created in editing and cataloguing the interview for The HistoryMakers Digital Video Library; and paper copies of these XML files.
Access to paper records is restricted. Other restrictions may be applied on a case-by-case basis.
All use of materials must be pre-approved by The HistoryMakers® and appropriate credit must be given. All use credits must be pre-approved by The HistoryMakers®. Copyright is held by The HistoryMakers®.
Index Terms |
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| This record series is indexed under the following controlled access terms. | ||
| Contributors: | ||
| Bevel, James | ||
| Crowe, Larry | ||
| Stearns, Scott | ||
| Persons: | ||
| (PERSONS) | ||
| Corporate Bodies: | ||
| (CORPORATE BODIES) | ||
| Family Names: | ||
| Bevel | ||
| Places: | ||
| (PLACES) | ||
| Subjects: | ||
| (SUBJECTS) | ||
| Document Types: | ||
| Video oral history interview | ||
| Titles: | ||
| The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with James Bevel | ||
Accompanying materials: Accompanying materials are filed in (NUMBER) folders in a half-Hollinger box and shelved at The HistoryMakers® Archives and Collection Library by accession number, separately from the videos.
Betacam, VHS, DVD and MPEG-1 access copies are held for in-house use at The HistoryMakers®; Betacam SP, VHS and DVD playback hardware is provided for in-house viewing of the access copies; MPEG-1 copies are searchable and viewable via a digital video database.
The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with James Bevel, January 14, 2003. The HistoryMakers® African American Video Oral History Collection, 1900 S. Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois.