Top of page

Film, Video Ellie Dahmer oral history interview conducted by Emilye Crosby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, 2015 November 30

Ellie Dahmer oral history interview conducted by Emilye Crosby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, 2015 November 30

More Resources

View Enlarged Image
[ 1 transcript ]

About this Item

Title

  • Ellie Dahmer oral history interview conducted by Emilye Crosby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, 2015 November 30

Summary

  • Ellie Dahmer discusses her involvement in the NAACP and voting rights activism in Forrest County, Mississippi. She recalls her experiences in education, both as a student at local schools, Alcorn State University, and Tennessee A&I, and as a teacher in schools throughout Mississippi. Her career as a Forrest County election commissioner is also discussed. She speaks about her husband, fellow activist Vernon Dahmer, and remembers the night when Klu Kulx Klan members burned her home, killing her husband and injuring her children.

Names

  • Dahmer, Ellie J., 1925- interviewee
  • Crosby, Emilye, interviewer
  • Bishop, John Melville, videographer
  • Civil Rights History Project (U.S.)

Created / Published

  • 2015.

Headings

  • -  Dahmer, Ellie J.,--1925---Interviews
  • -  Dahmer, Vernon Ferdinand,--1908-1966
  • -  Kennard, Clyde,--1927-1963
  • -  Ladner, Dorie
  • -  Ladner, Joyce A
  • -  Alcorn State University
  • -  Ku Klux Klan (1915- )--Mississippi--History
  • -  Mississippi Southern College
  • -  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
  • -  African Americans--Suffrage--Mississippi
  • -  African American women civil rights workers--Mississippi--Interviews
  • -  African American women teachers--Mississippi--Interviews
  • -  Civil rights movements--Mississippi
  • -  Civil rights movements--United States
  • -  Mississippi Freedom Project
  • -  Murder--Mississippi--Hattiesburg
  • -  Segregation in education--Mississippi
  • -  Violence--Mississippi--History
  • -  Voter registration--Mississippi
  • -  Hattiesburg (Miss.)--Race relations--History

Genre

  • Personal narratives
  • Filmed interviews
  • Interviews
  • Oral histories
  • Video recordings

Notes

  • -  Recorded in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on November 30, 2015.
  • -  Civil Rights History Project collection (AFC 2010/039: 0110), 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.).
  • -  Ellie Jewel Davis, born in Rose Hill, Mississippi, attended Alcorn State University and Tennessee A&I, and worked as a teacher throughout Mississippi. She married Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer, Sr. (1908-1966) in March of 1952. Vernon Dahmer was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement and president of the Forrest County chapter of the NAACP in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. On January 10, 1966, the Dahmer home was firebombed by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Though Ellie escaped with the children, Vernon died from resulting injuries.
  • -  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.
  • -  In English.
  • -  Finding aid http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/eadafc.af013005

Medium

  • 7 video files (Apple ProRes 422 HQ, QuickTime wrapper) (1:22:32) : digital, sound, color.
  • transcript 1 item (.pdf) : text files.

Source Collection

  • Civil Rights History Project collection AFC 2010/039: 0110

Repository

  • Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC USA 20540 to 4610 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/folklife.home

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2016655401

Rights Advisory

  • Duplication of collection materials may be governed by copyright and other restrictions.

Access Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

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:

Dahmer, Ellie J., Interviewee, Emilye Crosby, John Melville Bishop, and U.S Civil Rights History Project. Ellie Dahmer oral history interview conducted by Emilye Crosby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. 2015. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016655401/.

APA citation style:

Dahmer, E. J., Crosby, E., Bishop, J. M. & Civil Rights History Project, U. S. (2015) Ellie Dahmer oral history interview conducted by Emilye Crosby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2016655401/.

MLA citation style:

Dahmer, Ellie J., Interviewee, et al. Ellie Dahmer oral history interview conducted by Emilye Crosby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. 2015. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2016655401/>.