Freedom Summer Teach-in – October 19, 2014

Freedom 1

In 1964 the Mississippi Summer Project
organized volunteers from across the
country to travel to Mississippi, one
of the nation’s most viciously racist,
segregated states, to conduct a major
voter registration drive. This historic
effort, which became known as Freedom
Summer, helped to spur passage of the
Voting Rights Act just one year later. On
the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer,
this Community Teach-in will chronicle
the progress of civil rights in the last fifty
years and discuss the most recent attacks
on the right to vote, which threaten the
hard-fought gains made by the heroes of
Freedom Summer.



Some photos taken at the teach-in-

Alicia Fontanetta at Freeom Summer Teach-in

David Orr at 50th Anniversary Freedom Summer Teach-in at Unity Temple in Oak Park 19 October 2014

Laura_and_Tim_19_Oct_2014

The Freedom Teachers
David Orr, Thomas Armstrong, Don Register, Timuel Black and Judith Browne Dianis.

Prof._Timuel_Black_Jr._at_podium_@_Freedom_Summer_Teach-in_19_Oct_2014

Rev. Don Register at Freedom Summer Teach-in 19 Oct 2014

Rich at Freedom Summer teach-in

Thomas Armstrong III at podium @ Freedom Summer Teach-in 19 Oct 2014




At the teach-in there was a display of photographs from the personal collection of former Oak Park Village Trustee Galen Gockel which represent the faces of civil rights icons as well as those of student volunteers. Mr. Gockel photographed these images in June 1964 at the Freedom Summer training program held for volunteers at Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio.

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You can download a PowerPoint presentation of the photos here:

Freedom Summer Photos



Unity Temple Exterior
Unity Temple
Unity Temple is a Unitarian Universalist church in Oak Park, Illinois, and the home of the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. It was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and built between 1905 and 1908. Unity Temple is considered to be one of Wright’s most important structures dating from the first decade of the twentieth century.

OPT exterior
Oak Park Temple B’nai Abraham Zion
Oak Park Temple B’nai Abraham Zion is a Reform Jewish congregation in historic Oak Park, an inner suburb just west of Chicago known for its quality parks and schools, and its diverse population. The congregation is celebrating its 150th anniversary and has been at the current location since 1957.