Created by

Civil Rights History Project, American, founded 2009

Interview of

Foreman Cotton, Dorothy, American, born 1930

Interviewed by

Mosnier, Joseph Ph. D.

Subject of

Shaw University, American, founded 1865

Virginia State University, American, founded 1882

Dr. Daniel, Robert Prentiss, American, 1902 - 1968

Cotton, George J., American

Gillfield Baptist Church, American, founded 1797

Rev. Dr. Walker, Wyatt Tee, American, 1929 - 2018

Dr. King, Martin Luther Jr., American, 1929 - 1968

Southern Christian Leadership Conference, American, founded 1957

Highlander Folk School, American

Clark, Septima Poinsette, American, 1898 - 1987

Jenkins, Esau, American, 1910 - 1972

Citizenship Education Program, American, founded 1954

Medium

digital

Dimensions

Duration: 02:12:39

Type

video recordings

oral histories

digital media - born digital

Place collected

Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York, United States, North and Central America

Place depicted

North Carolina, United States, North and Central America

Petersburg, Virginia, United States, North and Central America

Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America

Date

July 25, 2011

Description

The oral history consists of eight digital files: 2011.174.40.1a, 2011.174.40.1b, 2011.174.40.1c, 2011.174.40.1d, 2011.174.40.1e, 2011.174.40.1f, 2011.174.40.1g, and 2011.174.40.1h.

Dorothy Foreman Cotton discusses growing up in rural North Carolina, attending Shaw University and Virginia State College, working as a housekeeper for the president of these colleges, Dr. Robert Prentiss Daniel, and meeting her husband, George Cotton. She discusses attending the Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg, Virginia, working with pastor Wyatt Tee Walker on organizing civil rights protests and meetings, and meeting Martin Luther King, Jr. She moved to Atlanta to assist Walker in his work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, where she became Director of Education for the organization. At the Highlander Folk School, she met Septima Clark and Esau Jenkins and led the Citizenship Education Program. She also discusses the impact of King's assassination on the movement and the philosophy of nonviolence.

LOC ID: afc2010039_crhp0040

Topic

African American

Activism

American South

Associations and institutions

Civil rights

Education

Labor

Religion

Social reform

United States--History--1961-1969

Credit Line

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in partnership with the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Object number

2011.174.40.1a-h

Restrictions & Rights

© Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture and The American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

See more items in

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Collection title

Civil Rights History Project

Classification

Media Arts-Film and Video

Data Source

National Museum of African American History and Culture