Film, Video Maria Varela oral history interview conducted by David P. Cline in Pasadena, California, 2016 June 29.

More Resources

[ 1 transcript ]

About this Item

Title
Maria Varela oral history interview conducted by David P. Cline in Pasadena, California, 2016 June 29.
Summary
Activist and MacArthur fellow, Maria Varela, recalls her role in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), discussing her work in organizing adult literacy programs in Mississippi and her role as one of SNCC's only female photographers. Offering a Mexican American perspective of the Civil Rights Movement, she identifies how SNCC embraced multiculturalism, extending its activism to include the Chicano Movement. She reflects on her transition from SNCC into the Chicano Movement, including her participation in the Land Grant Movement and the Poor People's Campaign in 1968.
Contributor Names
Varela, Maria, 1940- interviewee.
Cline, David P., 1969- interviewer.
Bishop, John Melville, videographer.
Civil Rights History Project (U.S.)
Created / Published
2016.
Subject Headings
-  Varela, Maria,--1940---Interviews
-  Hamer, Fannie Lou
-  Ouellet, Maurice F.,--1926-2011
-  Tijerina, Reies
-  Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (U.S.)
-  Students for a Democratic Society (U.S.)
-  United States National Student Association
-  Chicano movement
-  Civil rights movements--Alabama
-  Civil rights movements--Mississippi
-  Civil rights movements--United States
-  Photography--Social aspects--United States--History--20th century
-  Poor People's Campaign
-  Women civil rights workers--United States--Interviews
Genre
Personal narratives
Filmed interviews
Interviews
Oral histories
Video recordings
Notes
-  Recorded in Pasadena, California, on June 29, 2016.
-  Civil Rights History Project collection (AFC 2010/039: 0143), 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.).
-  Maria Varela was born in 1940 in Newell, Pennsylvania. She attended college at Alverno College in Milwaukee, where she was student body president and became aware of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) while attending the National Student Association Congress. She later joined SNCC and worked in Selma, Alabama and Mississippi as a photographer and media creator. In 1968, she moved to New Mexico where she worked with the Land Grant Movement and the Chicano Press Association. Varela received her M.A. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 1982. She later became a visiting professor at Colorado College and then adjunct professor at University of New Mexico. She helped organize rural development and founded Los Ganados del Valle and helped found Tierra Wools co-op, which re-introduced native sheep stock to Hispano and Native American land-holders and small ranchers.
-  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
15 video files (Apple ProRes 422 HQ, QuickTime wrapper) (1:40:46) : digital, sound, color.
transcript 1 item (.pdf) : text files.
Source Collection
Civil Rights History Project collection AFC 2010/039: 0143
Repository
Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC USA 20540-4610 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/folklife.home
Digital Id
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/afc2010039.afc2010039_crhp0143
afc2010039.afc2010039_crhp0143_ms01
Library of Congress Control Number
2016655434
Rights Advisory
Duplication of collection materials may be governed by copyright and other restrictions.
Access Advisory
Collection is open for research. To request materials, please contact the Folklife Reading Room at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/folklife.contact
Online Format
image
pdf
video
LCCN Permalink
https://lccn.loc.gov/2016655434
Additional Metadata Formats
MARCXML Record
MODS Record
Dublin Core Record

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:

Varela, Maria, Interviewee, David P Cline, John Melville Bishop, and U.S Civil Rights History Project. Maria Varela oral history interview conducted by David P. Cline in Pasadena, California. 2016. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016655434/.

APA citation style:

Varela, M., Cline, D. P., Bishop, J. M. & Civil Rights History Project, U. S. (2016) Maria Varela oral history interview conducted by David P. Cline in Pasadena, California. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2016655434/.

MLA citation style:

Varela, Maria, Interviewee, et al. Maria Varela oral history interview conducted by David P. Cline in Pasadena, California. 2016. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2016655434/>.

More Films, Videos like this