LibGuides: Civil Rights Movement: Listen to First Hand Accounts

Oral History Collections

Civil Rights History Project
This collection of oral histories by the Library of Congress collects the experiences of those who participates in the Civil Rights Movement.
Oral Histories from the Television News of the Civil Rights Era 1955-1970
"The interviews [on this site] are excerpts from the film, "Massive Resistance"; the 2000 Emmy Nominee of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which was shown nationally on PBS in February 2002 for Black History Month. The interview transcripts are part of the "Civil Rights in U.S. and Virginia History" website."
Little Rock Central High Memory Project
This project collects and shares oral histories.
Mississippi Freedom Project Oral Histories
"The Mississippi Freedom Project (MFP) is an award-winning archive of 200+ oral history interviews conducted with veterans of the civil rights movement and notable residents of the Mississippi Delta. The collection centers on activism and organizing in partnership with the Sunflower County Civil Rights Organization in Sunflower, Mississippi."
Southern Oral History Program
"Since 1973, the Southern Oral History Program has worked to preserve the voices of the southern past. We have collected 6,000 interviews with people from all walks of life—from mill workers to civil rights leaders to future presidents of the United States. Made available through UNC’s renowned Southern Historical Collection online, these interviews capture the vivid personalities, poignant personal stories, and behind-the-scenes decision-making that bring history to life."

Claudette Colvin

As a 15 year old girl in March of 1955, she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus. Her arrest pre-dated Rosa Parks' arrest by several months.

Ernest Green

Ernest Green talks about his experience as one of the first students to integrate the schools in Little Rock Arkansas (the group typically known as the Little Rock Nine).

Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer was a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement. Her testimony before the Congressional Credentials Committee was seen as a central event in the Movement. These sources offer a chance to hear her testimony as well as interviews about her life.

John Lewis

John Lewis was dedicated to activism and public service his entire life. He was one of the original Freedom Riders and after that experience went on to become a long-term representative of his home state of Georgia, serving as their representative from 1987 to his death in 2020. In the video below, he talks about his experiences and philosophy of activism.

Joseph McNeil, Diane Nash, and John Lewis

Civil Rights activists Joseph McNeil, Diane Nash, and John Lewis discuss their experience during the lunch counter sit-ins in 1960.