NOLA Resistance
MSS 936
Explore our oral history project featuring testimony from individuals who were active in the fight for racial equality in New Orleans between 1954 and 1976.
The modern African American civil rights movement brought about immense cultural change in New Orleans. The fight for racial justice included voter registration drives as well as efforts to end segregation and curtail discrimination in schools, on public transportation, and in businesses. Local chapters of CORE, the NAACP, and NAACP youth council led the movement.
This oral history project, funded in part by a National Park Service grant, records testimony from individuals who were active in the fight for racial equality in New Orleans between 1954 and 1976. For more information, access the full audio and transcript for each oral history.
The project documented a number of historic events and themes in the interviews with the activists who took part. The ten short videos below highlight these stories from the civil rights movement in New Orleans.
Educational Resources
This curriculum, based on oral histories collected as part of the NOLA Resistance project, prompts students to engage with primary and secondary historical sources to examine the experiences of local civil rights leaders. The three lessons—Stories of Resistance, Young Leaders of New Orleans, and Integrating McDonogh 19—help students cultivate critical thinking skills, further develop their reading comprehension abilities, and gain experience in assessing different types of historical sources. Explore lesson plans and moreOpens in new tab on the NOLA Resistance website.
The Freedom Rides
During the early 1960s, civil rights fighters pushed for enforcement of the federal ruling to provide integrated facilities for interstate travel by organizing bus trips known as “Freedom Rides.” New Orleanians, including members of the local CORE chapter, trained riders and boarded buses as part of the effort. Dodie Smith-Simmons recalls her experiences as a Freedom Rider, including the day when a colleague told her to “get Bobby Kennedy on the phone.”
The Castles, Freedom House, and Dooky Chase’s
The Castle family, including Oretha and her sister Doris Jean, were leaders of the local civil rights movement. Their family home, dubbed “Freedom House,” served as a place for visiting freedom fighters to meet, plan, eat, and rest. Dooky Chase’s Restaurant, where family matriarch Virgie Castle worked, provided food to demonstrators and a place for leaders of the movement to convene.
The Canal Street Boycotts
Throughout 1960 and ’61, demonstrators protested unequal hiring practices and services for African Americans at Canal Street businesses. Dr. Raphael Cassimere Jr., then a leader of the local NAACP Youth Council, recalls these efforts.
New Orleans Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
The local chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was one of the most active groups in the city and region during the early 1960s. Led in large part by students and young activists, New Orleans CORE participated in nonviolent direct action protests and registered voters across the city and state.
Voter Registration
Registering African American voters was a key mission of the civil rights movement. Many local organizations worked to expand the electorate to include those previously affected by the de facto disenfranchisement of black voters that was a central element of the Jim Crow South.
Music in the Movement
Civil rights fighters often used group singing to fortify and unite themselves in the face of dangerous work. Much of the repertoire borrowed from spirituals, offering messages of hope and inspiration through music.
The Showdown in Desire
In the fall of 1970 the offices of the local chapter of the National Committee to Combat Fascism, an offshoot of the Black Panther Party, were violently raided by the New Orleans Police Department. Following the confrontation, organization members were arrested and placed on death row. Malik Rahim describes his experience during and after the episode.
Explore the Interviews
All the interviews are available in their entirety through our online catalog. To access full audio and transcripts of the oral histories, click the links beneath the contributor names below, which will take you to each corresponding catalog page. Scroll down to the View Online field to find links to audio and transcript files.
Contributors
Tessie Prevost Williams
Raphael Cassimere Jr.
Sybil Haydel Morial
Doratha Smith-Simmons
Norman Francis
Katrena Ndang
Don Hubbard
Edwin A. Lombard
Ronnie Malcolm Moore
David J. Dennis
Marie Ortiz Galatas
Claude Reese
Pam Foreman Testroet
Gail Etiénne-Stripling
Nyra Becnel
Inez Hale Cassimere
Bruce Waltzer
Leona Tate
Malik Rahim
Carol L. LaMotte
Wayne Baquet
Willie Melvin Birch
Sheryl Landry Sissler
Vera Landry
Margaret Leonard
Betty Daniels Rosemond
Chakula Cha Jua
Robert Hillary King
Robert Heller
Jean Denton Thompson
This material was produced with assistance from the African American Civil Rights grant program, administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.
NOLA Resistance
Learn more about the Civil Rights Movement in New Orleans through HNOC’s community initiative NOLA Resistance. Find oral histories, videos, lesson plans, information about the traveling exhibition The Trail They Blazed, and more.
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Oral History
HNOC’s oral history program preserves diverse personal narratives, fostering a richer collective memory through interviews and vignettes.
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