Created by

Civil Rights History Project, American, founded 2009

Interview of

Bill Russell, American, born 1934

Interviewed by

Branch, Taylor, American, born 1947

Subject of

University of San Francisco, American, founded 1855

National Basketball Association, American, founded 1946

Boston Celtics, American, founded 1946

Major League Baseball, American, founded 1869

Boston Red Sox, American, founded 1901

Medium

digital

Dimensions

Duration: 03:07:25

Type

video recordings

oral histories

digital media - born digital

Place collected

Seattle, King County, Washington, United States, North and Central America

Place depicted

Louisiana, United States, North and Central America

Oakland, Alameda County, California, United States, North and Central America

San Francisco, California, United States, North and Central America

Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, North and Central America

Date

May 12, 2013

Description

The oral history consists of eleven digital files: 2011.174.88.1a, 2011.174.88.1b, 2011.174.88.1c, 2011.174.88.1d, 2011.174.88.1e, 2011.174.88.1f, 2011.174.88.1g, 2011.174.88.1h, 2011.174.88.1i, 2011.174.88.1j, and 2011.174.88.1k.

Basketball player William "Bill" Russell remembers his childhood in Louisiana and Oakland, California, in the 1940s. After winning two Final Fours with the University of San Francisco, he won an Olympic gold medal and an NBA championship playing for the Boston Celtics, one of thirteen Russell would win, including eight in a row. Russell had a difficult relationship with the sports media in Boston, but a better one with his Celtics teammates. He defends the organization as progressive on racial matters (as opposed to the Red Sox) and describes a post-retirement reconciliation with Boston that resulted in considerable Red Sox support for his mentoring organization and a statue of him, erected in 2013.

LOC ID: afc2010039_crhp0088

Topic

African American

Activism

American West

Athletes

Baseball

Basketball

Civil rights

Education

Olympics

Race relations

Social reform

United States--History--1933-1945

United States--History--1945-1953

United States--History--1953-1961

United States--History--1961-1969

United States--History--1969-2001

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

2011.174.88.1a-k

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

Created by

Civil Rights History Project, American, founded 2009

Interview of

Walter, Mildred Pitts, born 1922

Interviewed by

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

Subject of

Southern University and A&M College, American, founded 1880

Walter, Earl, American, died 1965

Congress of Racial Equality, American, founded 1942

Medium

digital

Dimensions

Duration: 01:31:20

Type

video recordings

oral histories

digital media - born digital

Place collected

San Mateo, California, United States, North and Central America

Place depicted

Louisiana, United States, North and Central America

Los Angeles, California, United States, North and Central America

Soviet Union, Europe

Date

March 1, 2013

Description

The oral history consists of five digital files: 2011.174.59.1a, 2011.174.59.1b, 2011.174.59.1c, 2011.174.59.1d, and 2011.174.59.1e.

Mildred Pitts Walter discusses her early life in Louisiana, attending Southern University, and moving to Los Angeles in 1944. Pitts recalls meeting Earl Walter whom she married two years later, her work with Earl who headed the Los Angeles chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) from 1951 to 1963, CORE pickets of housing developers in Los Angeles, and her work as a clerk in the LA school district while getting her teaching credentials. She also discusses her career writing over 20 books for children, her work with a national association of nurses to develop culturally sensitive training, marching in the Soviet Union for peace, her ideas about civil rights and human rights.

LOC ID: afc2010039_crhp0059

Topic

African American

Activism

American South

American West

Associations and institutions

Children

Civil rights

Education

Housing

Humanitarianism

International affairs

Medicine

Social reform

United States--History--1945-1953

United States--History--1953-1961

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

2011.174.59.1a-e

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