Peggy Ryan Poole Oral History

Object number2022.001.0006

Date02/16/2022

ClassificationsOral Histories

Oral history interview subject Peggy Ryan Poole

Oral history interviewer Stephen Fagin

ObjectOral history

Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

MediumBorn digital (.m4a file), Born digital (.mp4 file), Born digital (.vtt file)

DimensionsDuration: 79 Minutes

Collections

DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Peggy Ryan Poole. A young volunteer during the 1960 campaign, Poole was inspired in part by President Kennedy to become a civil rights and political activist. She spent the summer of 1965 participating in the Summer Community Organizing and Political Education (SCOPE) project of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She later became an anti-Vietnam War activist and participated in the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) anti-poverty program. Interview conducted via Zoom on February 16, 2022 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is one hour and nineteen minutes long.

Curatorial Commentary

The 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