Integration and the Movement

Abstract

In this chapter, participant narratives and discussions of newspaper editorials and articles will be presented to portray how issues of race, segregation, and the CRM were handled across the 20-year time period and across the 13 colleges. The chapter begins by positioning selected participant narratives in the context of some of the most significant and notable events of the civil rights era. Following these narratives, archival data from the colleges are presented to supplement and speak to the general nature of campus discussions, and lack thereof, about racial justice issues.

The participants’ narratives in this chapter are set against the backdrop of some of the most significant events of the CRM . Many other events and actions were taking place around the country as Lewis noted in his memoir (Lewis & D’Orso , 1998). However, the events recorded here were particularly noteworthy in the history of the movement. The five-year time spans are introduced by the list of key events in the CRM and then followed by one to three participant narratives across the 11 institutions for which student perspectives of campus activities were available (including Antioch College). The concluding essay introduces the archival data and how they amplify or diverge from students’ reflections, drawing conclusions about student and institutional responses to local and national activism .