M323 Ellin (Joseph and Nancy) Freedom Summer Collection

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Collection Title: Ellin (Joseph and Nancy) Freedom Summer Collection

Collection Number: M323

Dates: 1963 - 1988

Volume: 1.7 cu.ft.

Provenance: Materials in this collection were donated by Joseph and Nancy Ellin in 1999, 2000, and 2001.

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:
Dr. Joseph Ellin was born in October 1936, in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Dr. Martin, D.D.S., and Lillian Ellin. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University in 1957

July 4, 1964. Vernon Dahmer's picnic on his property at the Kelly Settlement located about 5 miles north of downtown Hattiesburg, Mississippi. (Joe Ellin is seated in the center of the picture; Nancy Ellin is standing beside him. Photo copyright: Herbert Randall.)

and a Doctorate from Yale University in 1962. He is a professor of philosophy at Western Michigan University. Nancy B. Ellin was born in Bronxville, New York, in May 1936, the eldest of two daughters born to Drs. Arthur and Norma Bowles. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College in 1958. Joseph and Nancy Ellin met at Yale University, and were later married. They have a son, David, and a daughter, Jane. They currently live in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

During the summer of 1964, Joseph and Nancy Ellin served as Freedom School teachers in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Joseph worked at Priest Creek Baptist Church in Palmers Crossing. Nancy worked at True Light Baptist Church in Hattiesburg, and spent much of the summer setting up the Freedom Library on Mobile Street. The Ellins first attended the SNCC orientation session held June 21 - 27 at Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio, where they learned of the disappearance of Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman. After orientation they drove with another volunteer in their car to Hattiesburg, arriving on June 29 and returning to Kalamazoo the end of August. While the Ellins were in Hattiesburg, two WMU students Susan Pfeiffer and Diane Woods stayed in their Kalamazoo home and cared for their cats.

The Ellins' host and hostess in Hattiesburg were Mr. and Mrs. King David Patton, who lived at 1022 Dewey Street, across from True Light Baptist Church, where Nancy taught in the Freedom School. Mr. Patton owned a barbershop nearby at 403 Mobile Street, the main street of the black community. Mrs. Vassie Patton was the midwife of both black and white Hattiesburg. Both were Civil Rights activists. Mrs. Patton had successfully registered to vote after many attempts, but Mr. Patton had not yet succeeded.

While in Hattiesburg, Joe and Nancy wrote letters containting their observations and concerns to Susan and Diane in Kalamazoo for transmittal to a wider Michigan audience, to Joe's parents in Brooklyn, and to the Editor of the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Sources:
Contents of the Collection
Dr. Joseph Ellin

Scope and Content:
The bulk of this collection consists of materials that document the Civil Rights Movement and Freedom Summer in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. When folder titles were assigned, efforts were made to retain the donors' notations.

Box One consists of personal correspondence; official correspondence from organizations; and materials from the Freedom Summer training session held at Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio.

Box Two is comprised of items that document Freedom Summer in Hattiesburg, including personal notes and examples of the work of Freedom School students; post-Freedom Summer items; materials from different organizations and institutions, such as The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, the Highlander Center, the National Sharecroppers Fund, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, the Council of Federated Organizations, the Congress of Racial Equality, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; and assorted news clippings and magazine articles related to the Civil Rights Movement.

Box Three contains magazines and pamphlets pertaining to the Civil Rights Movement; and various miscellaneous items, including a data profile of Mississippi, a 1964 Mississippi license plate, a list of historically black colleges, and materials regarding former Mississippi Governor J. P. Coleman.

Box Four holds magazine articles, newspapers, newsletters, and scrapbooks compiled by the Ellins in 1963 and 1964.

Box Five contains scrapbooks compiled by the Ellins in 1964 and 1965.

The collection also contains the following oversized items: three posters produced by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee; two copies of a newspaper titled The Afro American; and a 1964 road map of Arkansas and Mississippi.

Box 4

Folder 1 Oversize Magazine Articles , Newspapers & Newsletters (December 7, 1963 - July 13, 1965)

Folder 2 Scrapbook (ca. March 1963 - September 1964)

Folder 3 Scrapbook (October - November 1964)

Box 5

Folder 1 Scrapbook (December 1964)

Folder 2 Scrapbook (January 1965)

Folder 3 Scrapbook (January - February 1965)

Folder 4 Scrapbook (February - June 1965)

Oversized Materials

Item 1
SNCC Poster: "Come Let Us Build a New World Together" (ca. 1964)
This poster can be viewed online at: Come let us build a new world together

Item 2 SNCC Poster: "NOW" (ca. 1964)
This poster can be viewed online at: NOW

Item 3 SNCC Poster: "One Man, One Vote" (ca. 1964)
This poster can be viewed online at: One man, one vote

Item 4 Newspaper: The Afro American (February 13, 1965)

Item 5 Newspaper: The Afro American (February 20, 1965)

Item 6 Arkansas/Mississippi Road Map (1964)

Created by: Bobs M. Tusa & Yvonne Arnold
Prepared and maintained by
The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries Special Collections
http://www.lib.usm.edu/spcol/index.php
118 College Drive #5148 Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5148

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Revised: October 21, 2003