With the 50th anniversary of Mississippi’s Freedom Summer approaching, the UFT is trying to locate UFT members who taught in the Freedom Schools to interview, to solicit written memories and to find photos and other memorabilia.

Teaching in the Freedom Schools in 1964 was among the many contributions that UFT members made to advance the civil rights movement. The UFT wants to recognize and honor these important contributions, and also wants to reconnect its members today with the social justice traditions of teacher unionism.

The Freedom Schools grew out of a grassroots effort to provide additional educational opportunities to Southern black students who were denied equitable treatment. Most Freedom Schools held classes in churches or private homes.

Students who attended learned everything from history, citizenship, social justice and civil rights to drama, singing, dance, languages, journalism and religion. The goal of the Freedom Schools was to empower students to transform society.

Dozens of UFT members made the trip to Mississippi that summer to teach in the Freedom Schools, and many more were involved in raising money and finding resources to support the project.

Schools across New York City pitched in, holding sales, collecting donations, gathering supplies and even “adopting” Freedom Schools and organizing pen-pal programs between the students. Opposition forces across the South, meanwhile, spent the summer targeting the schools and assaulting the volunteers who taught in them, but the movement held fast.

If you were involved in the Mississippi Freedom Summer in some way, please email Brian Gibbons at bgibbons@uft.org.