Joyce Ladner, Ph.D., Oral History Interview: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An oral history interview and conversation with sociologist Dr. Joyce Ladner, Ph.D. It consists of three versions of a digital video recording, two camera card files (2025.12.3.1.1 and 2025.12.3.1.2, .mxf files) and one edited file (2025.12.3.1.3, .mov file).

Dr. Joyce Ladner was interviewed by Howard University student Maya Clayton on June 26, 2023, as part of the Social Justice Conversations Oral History Project. The interview took place at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. At the time of the interview, Dr. Ladner was 79 years old.

This oral history interview with Dr. Ladner consists of two distinct sections: an “interview” section (part 1) and a “conversation” section (part 2, 00:54:28). In part 1, Dr. Ladner recalls her upbringing in Mississippi, discussing her early experiences with segregation, the Chitlin’ Circuit, and memories of her mother. She also reflects on her experience in jail, her sister’s relationship with Bob Dylan, her experience at Jackson State University and later Tougaloo College, and her initial student activism. She describes her involvement with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which began with her volunteering at Freedom Houses in 1962, and the differing approaches her and her sister had when it came to being a student activist. Dr. Ladner recalls how she became an activist at age 15 and expresses the “lasting impression” Emmett Till’s murder left on her. She then goes into how SNCC and her upbringing influenced her career in sociology, being passed over for full presidency at Howard University, and her process for abstract painting. In part 2, Dr. Ladner discusses organizing today, her advice to Maya Clayton and other creatives engaging in social justice and navigating creative blocks. Clayton describes how George Floyd’s murder compelled her to create and attending her first protest. Dr. Ladner and Clayton discuss the generational impact of the murders of Trayvon Martin, Emmett Till, and George Floyd.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: June 26, 2023
• Created by: National Museum of African American History and Culture, American, founded 2003
• Recorded by: Trudy Hutcherson, American
• Recorded by: Sterling Warren
• Edited by: Candace Dane Chambers, American
• Interviewed by: Maya N. Clayton
• Interview of: Joyce Ladner Ph. D., American, born 1943
• Subject of: Dorie Ann Ladner, American, 1942 - 2024
• Subject of: Bob Dylan, American, born 1941
• Type: video recordings
• Type: oral histories
• Type: digital media - born digital
• Medium: digital
• Dimensions: Duration (2025.12.3.1.3, edited): 1 hr., 19 min., 52 sec.
• Dimensions: File size: 124 GB
• Place filmed: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Hattiesburg, Forrest County, Mississippi, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Families
• Object number: 2025.12.3.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• 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 and Culture Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.