The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories

Dahl (Kathleen) Freedom Summer collection

Repository: University of Southern Mississippi. McCain Library and Archives

Collection Description (Extant): The Kathleen Dahl Freedom Summer Collection consists of biographical sketches of Freedom Summer Volunteers. Over one hundred original photographs from 1964-1994, some photocopies and computer scans of photographs, and occasional brief commentaries. Some photos are of arrests, demonstrations, a bombed church, volunteers, and reunions. Additionally there are letters sent to, and written by, Kathleen Dahl from June 23, 1964 to October 26, 1999. Of special interest is a thank you letter from Fannie Lou Hamer. Many letters are to Kathy after she left the Holly Springs project and contain information about the status of the project. There are also examples of hate mail she received because of her involvement. This collection encompasses correspondence, documents, artifacts, artwork, reports, and writings from Holly Springs Volunteers and people related with the project. There are a variety of materials such as: Freedom Summer reports, Kathy's Mississippi Nursing Certificate, audio and video recordings of interviews with Kathy and other volunteers, Kathy's Mississippi license plate covered in Mississippi red clay dirt, and Freedom Summer reunion materials. There are also flyers, brochures, newspaper clippings, magazine clippings and artifacts included. Several published articles written by Kathy are in this series, in addition to a collection of over fifty political buttons from the civil rights movement.

Date(s): 1963 - 2003

Digital Status: Partial

Existing IDs: M357

Finding Aid URL: http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/archives/m357.htm

Language: English

Related Archival Items: M406 Civil Rights in the South Collection
M364 Davies (Jon G.) Freedom Summer Collection
AM03-25 Davis (Martha) Freedom Summer Memoir
M362 Koenig (Ruth) Papers
M375 Martin (Josephine D.) Papers

Interviewees: Kathleen Dahl, Dean Zimmerman

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

Subjects:

Civil rights movements--Mississippi
Mississippi Freedom Project
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (U.S.)
Women civil rights workers

Genres:

Interviews
Photographs
Sound recordings
Videorecordings