Freedom Summer 1964
Oxford, Butler County, Ohio
Marker Inscription
Freedom Summer 1964 In what was called the "Freedom Summer" of 1964, more than 800 volunteers, most of them college students, gathered at the Western College for Women (now Western Campus of Miami University) to prepare for African-American voter registration in the South. Three of the volunteers - James Chaney of Mississippi, and Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner of New York - disappeared on June 21, 1964, in rural Mississippi mere days after leaving Oxford, Ohio. Their bodies were discovered fourty-four days later, buried in an earthen dam. Ku Klux Klan members were later convicted on federal conspiracy charges. Erected in 1999, this outdoor amphitheater is a memorial to the slain activists, other volunteers, and ideals of the Freedom Summer movement.
Erected by Ohio Bicentennial Comission, The Longaberger Company, Oxford NAACP, Miami University, The Ohio Historical Society
The Story
In the summer of 1964, more than 800 volunteers—mostly college students—trained at the Western College for Women in Oxford before heading south to register African American voters in Mississippi. Days after leaving Oxford, three volunteers—James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner—were abducted and murdered by Klansmen, their bodies found weeks later in an earthen dam. The killings drew national outrage and helped propel the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This outdoor amphitheater, dedicated in 1999, stands as a memorial to the slain activists and the ideals of the Freedom Summer movement.
Why it matters
Freedom Summer marked a turning point in the civil rights movement, exposing the violence of Southern disenfranchisement to the nation and hastening federal protection of the right to vote.
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Related people
- · James Chaney
- · Andrew Goodman
- · Michael Schwerner
Related events
- · Freedom Summer
- · Voting Rights Act of 1965
Themes & tags
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