The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories

[Oral history collection of East Tennessee legal history]

Repository: Historical Society of the United States District Court For The Eastern District of Tennessee, Inc.

Collection Description (CRHP): This ongoing oral history project consists of fifty-five oral histories of those involved with legal proceedings of the U.S. District Court of East Tennessee. It currently includes two oral histories related to the civil rights movement, one of Sam Fowler, an attorney, and another of Dr. Fred Bedelle, superintendent of the Knoxville, Tennessee, school system during desegregation. All oral histories were conducted by Don K. Ferguson, who formerly served as a clerk of the court and print journalist. He now is executive director of the court's historical society. Information about some of the oral histories is available in the historical society's newsletters, which are available online.

Access Copy Note: Ferguson is in the process of digitizing the interviews.

Digital Status: Partial

Extent: 55 transcripts; audio cassettes; digital recordings

Language: English

Related Archival Items: The historical society also has a videotape of a 30-minute special done on school desegregation in Clinton, Tennessee, by journalist Ed Murrow. It includes interviews and an overview. In addition, the historical society has docket sheets, court records, and newspaper clippings related to civil rights law.

Interviewees: Sam Fowler, Fred Bedelle

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

Subjects:

Civil rights movements--Tennessee
Civil rights--Cases
Lawyers
School integration--Law and legislation
School integration--Tennessee
School integration--Tennessee--Knoxville
United States. District Court. Tennessee (Eastern District)

Genres:

Interviews
Sound recordings
Transcripts