SNCC and Civil Rights Movement, 1963-1970

Scope and content:

This series contains Richardson's original documents from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and other civil rights organizations, including the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Files are arranged into three subseries: SNCC, the Residential Freedom School, and Ralph Featherstone.

The SNCC subseries includes newsletters, internal memoranda, and official circulars from several SNCC offices, including the national office and the New York office. The subseries contains material from various SNCC initiatives and partnerships, such as the Mississippi Summer Project, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, civil rights conferences and demonstrations, the Julian Bond senatorial campaign, Black Panther literature, informational brochures on voter registration and organizing, and other miscellaneous printed materials. It also includes materials documenting Richardson's involvement in the Mississippi Summer Project, the campus travellers program, and the Heart of Atlanta hotel sit-in demonstration.

The Residential Freedom School subseries includes Richardson's work on establishing, funding, and running a Residential Freedom School in Alabama during the summer of 1965. It includes correspondence, registration information, logistical and administrative files, and program evaluations for the school.

The Death of Ralph Featherstone subseries contains documents acquired and collected by Richardson following the purported assassination of Ralph Featherstone and William "Che" Payne in Maryland. Featherstone worked with Richardson at Drum and Spear Bookstore in Washington, D.C.

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