Collection Title: Student Research Papers

Collection Number: M413

Dates: 1998; 1999; 2001

Volume: .25 cu ft

Provenance: The research papers in this collection were individually donated by Ms. Brackin Camp and Mrs. Janet Graham in 1998; Mrs. Amy Jo Formby, Mr. John Richardson and Dr. Marjorie Wheeler in 1999; and Victoria Hauser in 2001.

Restrictions: Available for research use by the serious student and scholar.

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:

During the 1960’s Mississippi was in a period of transition, the focal point of which was the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement in the United States was a mass movement of non-violent protests in which whites and African Americans joined forces to put an end to racial discrimination. This tumultuous period has inspired many students to conduct research and produce outstanding papers. A collection of seven such papers, written by students from history classes at The University of Southern Mississippi and other universities in the South have been donated to the USM Archives.

Sources:

Contents of Collection

Scope and Content:

The research papers in this collection were donated by the individuals who authored them, or the professor for whom they were written. The collection contains seven research papers organized alphabetically by the author's last name.

Folder 1: Boyette, Ashley (July 1999)
Folder 2: Burt, Richard (July 1999)
Folder 3: Camp, Brackin (April 1998)
Folder 4: Formby, Amy Jo (July 1999)
Folder 5: Graham, Janet (December 1998)
Folder 6: Hauser, Victoria (November 2001)
Folder 7: Richardson, John (April 1999)

Folder 1 contains a copy of Ashley Boyette’s research paper, “The FBI: Friend or Foe?” written for Dr. Marjorie Wheeler’s Honors College Senior Seminar in Freedom Summer, summer term 1999. The paper is eleven pages in length, including footnotes and bibliography, and it discusses criticisms of the FBI’s role during the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.

Folder 2 contains a copy of Richard Burt’s research paper “The Mississippi Man: A Report About Medgar Evers’ Life as a Local Civil Rights Leader” written for Dr. Marjorie Wheeler’s Honors College Senior Seminar in Freedom Summer, summer term 1999. The paper is ten pages in length, including endnotes and bibliography, and is a short biography of Medgar Evers and the events in his life that led to his role as a Civil Rights Leader.

Folder 3 contains a copy of Brackin Camp's research paper “Hattiesburg’s Grassroots Organizing and Activism: An Account of the Local Civil Rights Movement Featuring Mrs. Raylawni Branch’s Observations and Involvement in the Struggle” written for Dr. Neil McMillen’s Civil Rights History class, spring term 1998. The thirty-nine page paper focuses on Raylawni Branch’s insights, experiences, and participation during the Civil Rights Movement in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and how grassroots efforts were a sustaining factor of the entire Movement.

Folder 4 contains a copy of Amy Jo Formby’s research paper “Tried and True: The Origins and Objectives of Freedom Schools” written for Dr. Marjorie Wheeler’s Honors College Senior Seminar in Freedom Summer, summer term 1999. It is a twelve-page paper that traces the history of Freedom Schools and discusses the mission upon which they were established. A major focus of the paper is the importance and success that Freedom Schools had during Mississippi Freedom Summer.

Folder 5 contains a copy of Janet Graham’s research paper “The 1967 Bus and Business Boycott in Hattiesburg, Mississippi” written for Dr. Neil McMillen’s Civil Rights History class, fall term 1998. The paper is seventeen pages in length, including footnotes, a Works Cited and an Appendix. It discusses the politics behind, and overt effects of, the 1967 boycott of businesses that would not employ African Americans in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Folder 6 contains a copy of Victoria Hauser’s Bachelor of Arts in History thesis entitled “The 1964 Mississippi Summer Project and the Volunteer Experience” submitted to the Department of History of the University of North Carolina in November 2001. The thesis consists of thirty-three pages, including a bibliography, and features the experiences of several Freedom Summer volunteers whose papers are housed in the USM archives, particularly Zoya Zeman who was a volunteer in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Folder 7 contains a copy of John Richardson’s research paper “From Faith to Action: Ministers as the Turning Point in Hattiesburg Freedom Day” written for a class at Birmingham-Southern College in April 1999. The twelve-page paper includes a Works Cited, and it discusses the role of ministers and the effect they had during the Civil Rights Movement, especially during Freedom Day, January 22, 1964, and their continued support and presence throughout the Movement.

Related Collections:

M335 Branch (Raylawni) Collection
M406 Civil Rights in the South
M208 Hattiesburg Municipal records
M320 Zeman (Zoya) Freedom Summer Collection

Created by: Patti Condon
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: February 25, 2010