Walter Tillow Oral History Interview: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

The oral history consists of seven digital files: 2011.174.92.1a, 2011.174.92.1b, 2011.174.92.1c, 2011.174.92.1d, 2011.174.92.1e, 2011.174.92.1f, and 2011.174.92.1g.

Walter Tillow discusses how he joined the Civil Rights Movement as a college student and how that led him into labor and leftist movements. He describes his childhood in New York City and the leftist politics of his parents, as well as how he learned about the Movement as a college student at Harpur College and as a graduate student at Cornell University. In 1963, he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and moved to Fayette County, Georgia where he worked on voter registration drives. He later worked in the SNCC communication office in Atlanta. He describes in detail the movement for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. In 1965, he left the Movement to work for the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) and he later worked for the Communist Party.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: June 21, 2013
• Created by: Civil Rights History Project, American, founded 2009
• Interview of: Walter Tillow, American, born 1940
• Interviewed by: David P. Cline Ph. D., American, born 1969
• Subject of: Harpur College, American, founded 1946
• Subject of: Cornell University, American, founded 1865
• Subject of: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, American, 1960 - 1970s
• Subject of: Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, American, founded 1964
• Subject of: United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, American, founded 1936
• Type: video recordings
• Type: oral histories
• Type: digital media - born digital
• Medium: digital
• Dimensions: Duration: 1 hr., 48 min., 9 sec.
• Dimensions: Total: 175.18 GB
• Place collected: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Fayette County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: American South
• Topic: Associations and institutions
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Labor
• Topic: Political organizations
• Object number: 2011.174.92.1a-g
• 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.