Rick Tuttle, Ph. D. Oral History Interview: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

The oral history consists of six digital files: 2011.174.78.1a, 2011.174.78.1b, 2011.174.78.1c, 2011.174.78.1d, 2011.174.78.1e, and 2011.174.78.1f.

Rick Tuttle, Ph. D. describes his family background and when he first became aware of the sit-in movement and the Freedom Rides when he was a student at Wesleyan University. As a graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), he was recruited to join the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1963 and went to Greenwood, Mississippi, to work on voter registration drives. He also briefly spied on white supremacist and Ku Klux Klan meetings. After being driven out of Mississippi by threats, he joined the Chatham County Crusade for Voters in Savannah, Georgia. Tuttle describes being arrested in Savannah for disturbing the peace and the subsequent trial. Tuttle discusses the work he did after leaving the Movement: as the comptroller in Los Angeles he helped to bring an end to segregation at private clubs and participated in the anti-apartheid movement.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: April 11, 2013
• Created by: Civil Rights History Project, American, founded 2009
• Interview of: Rick Tuttle Ph. D., American, born 1940
• Interviewed by: David P. Cline Ph. D., American, born 1969
• Subject of: Wesleyan University, American, founded 1831
• Subject of: University of California, Los Angeles, American, founded 1919
• Subject of: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, American, 1960 - 1970s
• Subject of: Ku Klux Klan, 3rd, American, founded 1946
• Subject of: Chatham County Crusade for Voters, American, c. 1960
• Type: video recordings
• Type: oral histories
• Type: digital media - born digital
• Medium: digital
• Dimensions: Duration: 2 hr., 4 min., 49 sec.
• Dimensions: Total: 202.35 GB
• Place collected: Culver City, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Greenwood, Leflore County, Mississippi, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: American South
• Topic: American West
• Topic: Associations and institutions
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Resistance
• Object number: 2011.174.78.1a-f
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in partnership with the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture and The American Folklife Center, Library of Congress Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.