The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories

Oral history of the desegregation of Memphis City Schools, 1954-1974

Repository: University of Memphis. Special Collections/Mississippi Valley Collection

Collection Description (CRHP): Oral History of the Desegregation of Memphis City Schools, 1954-1974 (Abridged) by Robert M. McRae in collaboration with the Oral History Research Office at the University of Memphis (1997) consists of a bound volume that contains selected excerpts of transcriptions of nine tapes of interviews conducted of McRae by Floyd Montgomery Sharp, who wrote the dissertation "The Desegregation of the Memphis City Schools" under the direction of United States District Judge Robert Malcolm McRae, Jr. (University of Memphis, 1997). McRae distributed 75 copies of the oral history at his own expense to libraries, organizations, and individuals in Memphis and elsewhere in the country. He examines the long history of school desegregation in Memphis following the Brown decision and white resistance to it. He was the judge who ordered busing in Memphis, which was met with much outcry by the white community. He also particularly focuses on points of law and legal opinions generated by lawyers and judges.

Date(s): 1997

Digital Status: No

Extent: 1 volume/typescript (194 pages)

Language: English

Interviewees: Robert M. McRae

Rights (CRHP): Contact the repository which holds the collection for information on rights

Subjects:

African American students--Tennessee
African Americans--Civil rights--Tennessee
Busing for school integration
Civil rights--Cases
Judges
Memphis (Tenn.)--Politics and government
Race discrimination--Tennessee
School integration--Tennessee
Segregation in education--Tennessee

Genres:

Interviews
Transcripts