Freedom Summer: Atlantic City’s Role In This Civil Rights Turning Point
Posted on: August 16, 2021, by : aahmsnj.org
Panel to discuss about AC significance during 1964's
From 2:00 PM until 4:00 PM
At AAHMSNJ Atlantic City in Stockton University's Noyes Arts Garage
2200 Fairmount Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ
FREE. Donations are encouraged.
Freedom Summer was a historic turning point in the Civil Rights Movement and one of the most significant events took place in Atlantic City on August 22. Fannie Lou Hamer led Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party delegates in challenging the right of mainstream Democratic Party delegates to represent their state. Atlantic City was in the national spotlight as Hamer’s party shared the tactics used to prevent black people from voting in Mississippi on national TV and demonstrators marched in support outside Convention Hall.
The AAHMSNJ Freedom Summer panel will include the museum’s founder and president Ralph Hunter, Atlantic City Councilman and NAACP President Kaleem Shabazz, Dr. Donnetrice Allison, Program Chair for Africana Studies at Stockton University, and Stockton University Special Collections Librarian Heather Perez. Panelists will discuss the national and local significance of a period that is still relevant in today’s fight for equality and justice.
“People who participated in Freedom Summer helped move the Civil Rights Movement forward,” said Ralph Hunter. “This period is also inspiring because young people were at the forefront of the controversial voter registration campaign that resulted in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which was passed by President Lyndon Johnson the very next year. It remains important because we have a similar fight on our hands right now.”
There will also be a special limited showing of AAHMSNJ’s “A Time for Change” exhibit which, through photos and narrative, takes the viewer back in time to the events of 1964. Pieces from the museum’s Freedom Summer Traveling Museum collection will also be on display.
Registration begins at 2 PM. The panel discussion will begin at 2:30 PM.
We encourage local residents who were part of or who remember that summer to join us as we revisit a pivotal period in local and national history.