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Film, Video Robert G. Clark, Jr., oral history interview conducted by John Dittmer in Pickens, Mississippi, 2013 March 13

Robert G. Clark, Jr., oral history interview conducted by John Dittmer in Pickens, Mississippi, 2013 March 13

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About this Item

Title

  • Robert G. Clark, Jr., oral history interview conducted by John Dittmer in Pickens, Mississippi, 2013 March 13

Summary

  • Robert G. Clark, Jr., describes the early life experiences that led up to his successful campaign for political office in the Mississippi Legislature, where he became the first African American elected since Reconstruction. He discusses his childhood in Pickens, Mississippi, and he describes the family farm that he now owns, his relationship to his family, and the expectations that they had of him to receive an education. Clark discusses his career as an educator, and he describes how the Civil Rights Movement influenced him. After a failed campaign for school superintendent he volunteered to run for state office. Clark describes his experiences in the Mississippi Legislature, focusing on how he helped to pass the Education Reform Act.

Names

  • Clark, Robert George, 1929- interviewee
  • Dittmer, John, 1939- interviewer
  • Civil Rights History Project (U.S.)

Created / Published

  • 2013.

Headings

  • -  Clark, Robert George,--1929---Interviews
  • -  African American politicians--Mississippi--Interviews
  • -  African American teachers--Mississippi--Interviews
  • -  Civil rights movements--Mississippi
  • -  Civil rights movements--United States

Genre

  • Filmed Interviews
  • Interviews
  • Oral histories
  • Video recordings

Notes

  • -  Recorded in Pickens, Mississippi, on March 13, 2013.
  • -  Civil Rights History Project Collection (AFC 2010/039), Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
  • -  Copies of items are also held at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (U.S.).
  • -  The Civil Rights History Project is a joint project of the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture to collect video and audio recordings of personal histories and testimonials of individuals who participated in the Civil Rights movement.
  • -  The Honorable Robert G. Clark, Jr., is one of the many African American politicians who were elected to state legislatures following the Voting Rights Act of 1964. He was the first black representative elected to the Mississippi State House since the late 19th century, the first African American to serve as a committee chair in the Mississippi House and in 2004, the became the first African American to have a Mississippi state building named in his honor. He served as Speaker Pro Tempore from 1992 to 2003, when he retired as the longest serving representative.
  • -  In English.
  • -  Finding aid http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/eadafc.af013005

Medium

  • 8 video files of 8 (Apple ProRes 422 HQ, QuickTime wrapper) (118 min.) : digital, sound, color.
  • 1 transcript (53 pages).

Source Collection

  • Civil Rights History Project collection AFC 2010/039: 0075

Repository

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2015669174

Access Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The individuals documented in these collection items retain copyright and related rights to the use of their recorded and written testimonies and memories.  They have granted the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution permission to provide access to their interviews and related materials for purposes that are consistent with each agency’s educational mission, such as publication and transmission, in whole or in part, on the Web. Their written permission is required for commercial, profit-making distribution, reproduction, or other use beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. See our Legal Notices and Privacy and Publicity Rights for additional information and restrictions.

The American Folklife Center, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and the professional fieldworkers who carry out these projects feel a strong ethical responsibility to the people they have visited and who have consented to have their lives documented for the historical record. The Center asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here. Researchers are also reminded that privacy and publicity rights may pertain to certain uses of this material.

Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these collection materials should contact the Folklife Reading Room for assistance. 

Credit Line

Civil Rights History Project collection (AFC 2010/039), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Clark, Robert George, Interviewee, John Dittmer, and U.S Civil Rights History Project. Robert G. Clark, Jr., oral history interview conducted by John Dittmer in Pickens, Mississippi. 2013. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/2015669174/.

APA citation style:

Clark, R. G., Dittmer, J. & Civil Rights History Project, U. S. (2013) Robert G. Clark, Jr., oral history interview conducted by John Dittmer in Pickens, Mississippi. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2015669174/.

MLA citation style:

Clark, Robert George, Interviewee, John Dittmer, and U.S Civil Rights History Project. Robert G. Clark, Jr., oral history interview conducted by John Dittmer in Pickens, Mississippi. 2013. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2015669174/>.