/internal/media/dispatcher/70884/fullRobert Powell Oral History08/17/2021Duration: 68 MinutesBorn digital (.m2ts file), Born digital (.m4a file), Born digital (.mp4 file), Born digital (.mpg file)Oral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza2021.001.00750Videotaped oral history interview with Robert Powell. Powell, a native of rural Alabama, grew up with segregation and was inspired by a childhood encounter with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to become active with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He participated in protests and the SCOPE voter registration project and nearly lost his life in 1965 when a group of Klansmen attacked the historic Antioch Baptist Church in Camden, Alabama.
Interview conducted over Zoom on August 17, 2021 by Curator Stephen Fagin. The interview is 68 minutes long.
Technical note: This interview consists of a Zoom audio-video file, an isolated Zoom combined audio track, an HD video reference of Stephen Fagin in 501 Elm board room, and an audio adjusted Zoom file. Mr. Powell’s audio was out of synch throughout the recording, so Brian created a new audio adjusted MPG file to correct for this. Both the original and adjusted files were kept.
The video attached to this record is an excerpt. The entire interview is available in our Reading Room to on-site researchers or by submitting a Rights & Reproductions Request Form.Oral Histories657990E-100E-1072434Oral history0E-10Videotaped oral history interview with Robert Powell. Powell, a native of rural Alabama, grew up with segregation and was inspired by a childhood encounter with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to become active with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He participated in protests and the SCOPE voter registration project and nearly lost his life in 1965 when a group of Klansmen attacked the historic Antioch Baptist Church in Camden, Alabama.
Interview conducted over Zoom on August 17, 2021 by Curator Stephen Fagin. The interview is 68 minutes long.InterviewsOral historiesCivil rightsChildhoodProtestsVotingKing, Martin Luther, Jr.Southern Christian Leadership ConferenceKu Klux KlanDallasCamdenChildhood Recollections (OHC)Civil Rights and Social Activism (OHC)Dallas and 1960s History and Culture (OHC)Robert Powell was recommended to me by another 2021 oral history subject, activist and author Maria Gitin (2021.001.0055). Gitin worked alongside Powell during the SCOPE project in 1965, and she writes about him in her book, This Bright Light of Ours: Stories from the Voting Rights Fight (2014). Ms. Gitin's oral history may be viewed in full here in our collections database or on the Museum's YouTube channel: Voices From the Civil Rights Movement: Maria Gitin - YouTube. It was a great pleasure to include Mr. Powell's perspective in the project as well. We value recommendations and referrals from past interview participants since it frequently allows us to view the same historical event from an entirely different point of view. -- Stephen Fagin, CuratorThe Summer Community Organizing and Political Education (SCOPE) project of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was an ambitious undertaking in the summer of 1965 in preparation of passage of the Voting Rights Act in August 1965. Hundreds of predominantly white college students were recruited to travel to six southern states to coordinate with community groups, promote voter registration, and document voter suppression. An extensive digitized collection of primary source materials, including orientation brochures, reading lists and press materials may be found here: Civil Rights Movement -- SCLC/SCOPE Project (crmvet.org). The Museum has been honored to record oral histories with several activists who took part in the 1965 SCOPE project. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator