- Created by
- Civil Rights History Project, American, founded 2009
- Interview of
- Siler, Charles, American
- Interviewed by
- Cline, David P. Ph. D., American, born 1969
- Subject of
- Boy Scouts of America, American, founded 1910
- Southern University and A&M College, American, founded 1880
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, American, founded 1909
- Date
- May 10, 2013
- Medium
- digital
- Dimensions
- Duration: 1 hr., 42 min., 4 sec.
- Total: 168.97 GB
- Description
- The oral history consists of four digital files: 2011.174.86.1a, 2011.174.86.1b, 2011.174.86.1c, and 2011.174.86.1d.
- Charles Siler remembers his early life in Louisiana, including a penchant for drawing that began before the age of two, quitting the Boy Scouts when his troop made black Scouts walk behind the horses in a local parade, and picketing Louisiana's segregated State Library as a senior in high school. He was eventually expelled from Southern University because of his activism. He joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 1967, he was drafted and served in the military in the Vietnam War. He continued his civil rights advocacy as he took a variety of positions at cultural institutions and began a career as a cartoonist. The interview closes with Siler's reflections on identity and the process of learning from those who are ideologically different.
- LOC ID: afc2010039_crhp0086
- Place collected
- Dallas, Texas, United States, North and Central America
- Place depicted
- Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, United States, North and Central America
- Collection title
- Civil Rights History Project
- Classification
- Media Arts-Film and Video
- Movement
- Civil Rights Movement
- Type
- video recordings
- oral histories
- digital media - born digital
- Topic
- Activism
- American South
- Art
- Associations and institutions
- Children
- Civil rights
- Education
- HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
- Identity
- Military
- Social reform
- U.S. History, 1961-1969
- Vietnam War, 1961-1975
- 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
- 2011.174.86.1a-d
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture and The American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.