Created by

Civil Rights History Project, American, founded 2009

Interview of

Rosenburg, John J. D., born 1931

Rosenburg, Jean, American

Interviewed by

Cline, David P. Ph. D., American, born 1969

Subject of

Quakers, English, founded c. 1650

National Socialist German Workers' Party, German, 1920 - 1945

Wilmington College, American, founded 1870

United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, American, founded 1957

Federal Bureau of Investigation, American, founded 1908

Duke University, American, founded 1838

United States Air Force, American, founded 1947

University of North Carolina School of Law, American, founded 1845

Doar, John Andrew, American, 1921 - 2014

Turnbow, Hartman, American, 1905 - 1988

Voting Rights Act, American, founded 1965

Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, American, founded 2002

Medium

digital

Dimensions

Duration: 02:36:57

Type

video recordings

oral histories

digital media - born digital

Place collected

Prestonburg, Floyd County, Kentucky, United States, North and Central America

Place depicted

Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America

Germany, Europe

Gastonia, Gaston County, North Carolina, United States, North and Central America

Georgia, United States, North and Central America

Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Mississippi, United States, North and Central America

Date

August 15, 2013

Description

The oral history consists of ten digital files: 2011.174.100.1a, 2011.174.100.1b, 2011.174.100.1c, 2011.174.100.1d, 2011.174.100.1e, 2011.174.100.1f, 2011.174.100.1g, 2011.174.100.1h, 2011.174.100.1i, and 2011.174.100.1j.

Jean and John Rosenberg, J. D. begin this interview with recollections of their families' backgrounds. Jean learned about social issues as she was raised by a Quaker family in Pennsylvania, and John's family fled Germany under threat from the Nazis. Jean attended Wilmington College and became a research analyst for the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. John grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina, where FBI agents kept tabs on his family, attended Duke University, served in the Air Force, and attended the University of North Carolina School of Law. He became an attorney with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, which became effective after reorganization by John Doar. Much of this interview concerns Jean and John's work with the Civil Rights Division, including support for voter registration efforts in Georgia and Alabama, the investigation of the Hartman Turnbow case, in which a black activist was arrested for an arson attempt on his own home, and an effort to address a murder in Mississippi. John also addresses the effects of the Voting Rights Act in the South, the role of the lawyers in the Civil Rights Division in relation to the FBI and local law enforcement, and a variety of other cases and issues he dealt with. After retirement, the Rosenbergs founded the Appalachian Citizens Law Center.

LOC ID: afc2010039_crhp0100

Topic

African American

Activism

American South

Associations and institutions

Civil rights

Education

Law

Military

Social reform

Suffrage

United States--History--1961-1969

United States--History--2001-

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

2011.174.100.1a-j

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