Collection Title: Zeman (Zoya) Freedom Summer Collection
Collection Number: M320 Dates: ca. 1962 - 2002 Volume: 2 cu.ft. Provenance: Materials in this collection were donated by Zoya Zeman in several increments between 1999 and 2003. Copyright: This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).

Biographical/Historical Sketch:

Zoya Zeman was born on June 27, 1943, in Charlottesville, Virginia, to Dr. Erwin D. and Inez M. Hansen Zeman. The Zemans lived in Virginia and Utah before settling in Lincoln, Nebraska, where Dr. Zeman worked as a pathologist at St. Elizabeth Hospital. The oldest of four children, Zeman has three younger brothers -- William, Albert, and Michael. Before graduating from high school in 1961, she spent some time in New Zealand as an exchange student.

Zeman received her education at Scripps College in Claremont, California, earning a degree in psychology-sociology in 1965. In February 1964, Zeman attended a conference at Pomona College and learned of plans for the Mississippi Summer Project. She made the decision to volunteer her time and services in Mississippi for the summer. Several months later, she attended another conference at Stanford University, which served as the western headquarters for coordinating student volunteers for the project. At the conference, Zeman had the opportunity to meet and talk with Robert Moses about the summer project.

Before going to Mississippi, Zeman attended the training sessions held at Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio, from June 22-27, 1964. The Mississippi Summer Project had four areas of focus: voter registration, freedom schools, community centers, and special projects. Zeman chose to participate in the community center project, and received training primarily in the areas of health education and adult literacy. She was assigned to Clarksdale, and her role there was to inspire community members and help set up various programs that would enable the community to provide for itself after the summer workers had gone. She was in Clarksdale from June 28 to July 11, and August 11 through early September. During her three-week absence from the project, Zeman was in Copenhagen, Denmark, attending her brother's wedding and visiting family members who were traveling in Europe.

Zeman received a master's degree in social work, studying her first year at San Francisco State University in 1969, and completing her second year and earning the degree at the University of Nebraska in 1973. She specialized in medical social work of terminally ill patients. Her career took her to a number of cities throughout the West between 1965 and 1996, including San Francisco, California; Los Angeles, California; and Albuquerque, New Mexico. One of Zeman's greatest accomplishments is her development and administration of three international and intercultural programs at the University of Nebraska between 1970 and 1974. These programs, which are still in operation today, were designed as a means of enabling people to live in other cultures.

Although Zeman retired in 1995 because of health problems, she remains concerned with social justice and equality. She is a member of the Medical Committee for Human Rights, which was started as a result of the Mississippi Summer Project. She also pursues her interest in creativity and arts, comparative religions, and the psychology of radical personal, social and political change. Ms. Zeman currently lives in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Contents of the Collection

Zeman, Zoya. Freedom Summer Interviews Vol. 626, Hattiesburg: The University of Southern Mississippi, 1996.

Scope and Content:

This collection consists primarily of materials that document Zoya Zeman's activities as a student volunteer in Clarksdale, Mississippi, during Freedom Summer. The majority of the items in the collection date from 1964 and after.

Box 1:
Folders 1-5 consist of correspondence between Zeman and her family, friends, other summer volunteers, and Clarksdale community members.

Folders 6-7 contain materials from the Mississippi Freedom Summer training sessions in Oxford, Ohio, in June 1964.

Folders 8-15 include information about the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), and several issues of The Student Voice.

Folders 16-29 are comprised of various documents related to Freedom Summer, including photographs and Zeman's personal notes. While most of the items document the Clarksdale area, there are some from Hattiesburg and Meridian. Of particular interest is Zeman's senior thesis entitled "Mississippi Summer Project - 1964: Report by a Student Volunteer," written for Scripps College in 1965. Also of interest are Zeman's diary of the Clarksdale project, and the diary of Hattiesburg/Palmer's Crossing student volunteer Jinny Glass.

Box 2:
Folders 1-13 consist of materials related to Freedom Summer, such as photographs, articles, and maps of Freedom Summer sites in Clarksdale.

Folders 14-20 hold items from the Queen's College 25th anniversary reunion of Freedom Summer participants held in 1989, including correspondence, notes, and photographs.

Folders 21-31 are comprised of numerous articles, pamphlets and other items that document the Civil Rights Movement and black history at both the state and national levels. Noteworthy among these items is the diary of a Presbyterian minister, Rev. Dean Hay, of Lincoln, Nebraska, who spent a week in Hattiesburg in February 1964, working on a voter registration campaign.

Box 3:
Folders 1-2 contain newspaper clippings and pamphlets concerning the Civil Rights Movement and black history.

Folders 3-11 contain miscellaneous items not directly related to Mississippi Freedom Summer. These items include two sermons from the Unitarian Church of Lincoln, Nebraska, two journals, and an assortment of other materials.

Folders 12-20 consist of biographical files regarding Zoya Zeman, including her birth announcement, newspaper clippings, photographs and poems.

Folders 21-23 contain videocassettes related to African-American history.

Box 4:
Folders 1-4 contain videocassettes related to African-American history and the Civil Rights Movement, plus a film on pain management.

Box 5:
Folder 1 holds videocassettes about Bob Moses, and Folders 2-3 contain a book titled Silver Rights and a postcard book featuring notable African Americans.

This well-rounded and comprehensive collection should be of benefit to any researcher interested in Freedom Summer and the struggle for civil rights in Mississippi.

Related Collections:

Margaret Hazelton Freedom Summer Collection (M359)

Zoya Zeman Oral History Interview, transcript call number F341.5.M57 vol. 626 (McCain Library).

Matthew Zwerling Freedom Summer Collection (M336)

Other Finding Aids:

Box and Folder List

Photograph Log

Box and Folder List:

Box 1
Folder 1	Correspondence: Friends and Family (July 5, 1964 - ca. December 10, 1980; undated)
Folder 2	Correspondence: Summer Volunteers (July 4, 1964 - December 1989; undated)
Folder 3	Correspondence: Clarksdale Community Members (August 17, 1964 - December 27, 1965)
Folder 4	Correspondence: Dr. Erwin D. Zeman (March 5, 1964 - August 27, 1964; undated) Digitized materials from this folder include: Letter to Dad, March 5, 1964 Letter to Dad and Mother, Bill, Al, and Mike, April 26, 1964 Letter to family, May 23, 1964 Letter to Dad, July 1, 1964 Letter to Dad, July 3, 1964 Letter to Dad, July 5, 1964 Letter to Dad, July 6, 1964 Letter to Dad, July 7, 1964
Folder 5	Correspondence: General (July 3, 1964 - April 23, 1998; undated)
Folder 6	Oxford, Ohio: Handwritten Notes (June 21 - 26, 1964; undated)
Folder 7	Oxford Ohio Training Materials (ca. 1964) Digitized materials from this folder include: Sources for civil rights literature Role playing situations
Folder 8	Council of Federated Organizations: Mississippi Freedom Project Materials (1964 - 1965) Digitized materials from this folder include: Freedom registration brochure Freedom centers The Philadelphia, Mississippi case, chronology of contacts with agents of the Federal government Security handbook Information sheet - Project Mississippi Notes on teaching in Misissippi Letter to workers and friends of the Mississippi Freedom Project Letter to student body presidents, NSA coordinators, and student editors from Steven McNichols Report on McComb Cotton vote in Mississippi COFO program Wats Line Digest Some aspects of black-white problems as seen by field staff Federal programs project Affidavits COFO cartoon
Folder 9	Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee: Mississippi Freedom Project Materials (Aug. 1963 - Jan. 20, 1965) Digitized materials from this folder include: SNCC brochure Mississippi subversion of the right to vote SNCC newsletter Mississippi summer project pamphlet Mississippi Freedom Project pamphlet SNCC flyer for the book, "The Movement"
Folder 10	Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee: Pamphlet - "Danville, Virginia" (August 1963)
Folder 11	Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee: Pamphlet - "Liberty & Justice for All" (February 1965)
Folder 12	Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee: "Claremont Friends of SNCC" (ca. 1964-1965)
Folder 13	United States National Student Association (Oct. 12, 1964)
Folder 14	Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (ca. August - December, 1964; undated) Digitized materials from this folder include: Poster of support for the Freedom Democratic Party Position paper Challenge of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Freedom candidates of Mississippi Sworn written application for registration A report on the convention challenge of the MFDP Letter from MFDP to Mississippi Summer Project volunteers Freedom Democrats sticker
Folder 15	The Student Voice (June - December 1964) Digitized materials from this folder include: Student voice, vol. 5 no. 13 Student voice, vol. 5 no. 18 Student voice, vol. 5 no. 19 Student voice, vol. 5 no. 20 Student voice, vol. 5 no. 23
Folder 16	Articles Written by Zoya Zeman: "Role of My Father in Freedom Summer" and "Later Reflections on the Theory and Practice of Nonviolence" (2002)
Folder 17	Freedom Summer Posters (ca. 1964) Digitized materials from this folder include: COFO poster
Folder 18	Freedom Summer: Notes from Staff Meetings (Summer 1964)
Folder 19	Freedom Summer: Zeman's Diary (June 24 - August 31, 1964) A transcript of this item is available online.
Folder 20	Freedom Summer: Addenda to Zeman's Diary (2002)
Folder 21	Freedom Summer: Zeman's Notes to Self (Summer 1964)
Folder 22	Freedom Summer: Assorted Handwritten Notes by Zeman (ca. Feb 18 - July 15, 1964)
Folder 23	Freedom Summer: Zeman's Retrospective Notes (Aug. 13, 1999)
Folder 24	Freedom Summer: "Mississippi Thesis" (1965) Digitized materials from this folder include: Mississippi Summer Project - 1964
Folder 25	Freedom Summer: Assignments of Freedom Summer Volunteers (1964)
Folder 26	Freedom Summer: Application for Registration to Vote (1964) Digitized materials from this folder include: Application for registration to vote
Folder 27	Freedom Summer: Jinny Glass (June 18, 1964 - February 13, 1965) Digitized materials from this folder include: Letter to Zoya, August 3, 1964 Letter to Zoya, August 15 & 16, 1964
Folder 28	Freedom Summer: Selected Documents (Summer 1964)
Folder 29	Freedom Summer: Information Regarding Volunteers in Clarksdale, MS

Accession Number: AM08-17

Dates: June 25, 1964

Given By: Zoya Zeman

Volume: 1 item

Copyright: This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).

Form of Material:

A letter written by Dr. Erwin D. Zeman to his wife and three sons (Bill, Al and Mike), who were traveling in Europe. The letter was written from Oxford, Ohio, where Dr. Zeman's daughter, Zoya, was undergoing training as a Freedom Summer volunteer in June 1964.

Created by: Yvonne Arnold
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Revised: February 25, 2010