Statement by Carolyn Goodman published in the New York Times.

This video clip describes the danger the Wednesdays women encountered and reveals the dormant racism that existed in even some of the Wednesdays women. Susan Stedman and Doris V. Wilson of the Jackson team describe meeting the Northern women at the airport, with Klu Klux Klan members watching and spitting on the women as they arrived. Edith Savage Jennings, the first black women to meet with a group of white women in Jackson, tells of how after she (intentionally) removed her glove none of the women were willing to shake her hand.

Polly Cowan wrote a report at the end of the first summer of the Wednesdays in Mississippi project (WIMS) in which she described the group’s goals and their accomplishments. Two excerpts describe how WIMS began and how its purpose evolved.

This excerpt comes from an oral history interview with Wednesdays in Mississippi (WIMS) participant Sylvia Weinberg Radov that was conducted by Anne Moore (the daughter of another WIMS participant) in Chicago in 2002 for a project about Wednesdays in Mississippi. In the excerpt Radov describes the purpose of WIMS, in her understanding, and what the women did while in Jackson, Mississippi.

The excerpt is from Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz essay which shared some of her views on why she got involved with the Civil Rights Movement.

Justine Wise Polier, the daughter of Rabbi Stephen Wise, worked on behalf of the underprivileged and became the first female judge in New York City when she was appointed to the Children’s Court. In the 1950s she helped focus attention on the issue of de facto segregation in New York City schools. As part of broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow’s recurring “This I Believe” radio news segment, Justine Wise Polier discussed the beliefs that motivated her.

Letter from Hebrew Union Congregation in Greenville, Mississippi disputing the position of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (and its President, Rabbi Maurice N. Eisendrath) on segregation.

Letter between Rabbi Maurice N. Eisendrath, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the president of the Board of Trustees of Union Hebrew Congregation, Bernard Goodman. The letter is a response to a letter dated November 7, 1963. It discusses the invitation to Martin Luther King to address the UAHC Biennial. Eisendrath then goes on to state that more must be done to support the Civil Rights Movement even if it angers congregations.

Edward Cohen describes what it was like to grow up with the dual identity of a southern Jew, who is viewed as an outsider both in the south and with in the Jewish community.

Stephen S. Wise was a Reform rabbi who had dedicated his life to issues of social justice within and outside of the Jewish community. He was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and also served as the president of the American Jewish Congress. His daughter Justine Wise Polier also worked on behalf of underprivileged people. The quote below comes from Rabbi Wise’s testimony, as President of American Jewish Congress, during a Senate sub-committee hearing relating to discrimination in employment. Circa 1947 [exact date unknown].

In 2001, the organization Facing History and Ourselves hosted a panel discussion with three individuals who had lived in Jackson, MI during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. The following excerpts are taken from responses by the three panelists to a question about the experiences of Jews in their community who were not involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

Photograph of Rabbi Perry Nussbaum and his wife after bombing of their home in Jackson, MS, which was presumed to be related to his involvement with civil rights. Nussbaum was the rabbi of Temple Beth Israel.

This United States Information Agency photograph of the March on Washington, August 28, 1963, shows civil rights and union leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., Joseph L. Rauh Jr., Whitney Young, Roy Wilkins, A. Philip Randolph, and Walter Reuther.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream…” speech re-imagined as a Talmud Page — surrounded by Biblical references and Jewish parallels.

Image features a crowd at the March on Washington. Men hold signs reading "Central Conference of American Rabbis."

Image of two women in sun hats at the March on Washington. Behind them more women sit under a sign reading, "March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom / Emma Lazarus Federation of Jewish Women's Clubs."

Essay reflecting on the author's experience as a multiethinic Jew. Iny is of Mizrahi and Ashkenazi heritage.

Photograph of a teenage boy sitting on steps. He wears a white t-shirt, and jeans.

Excerpt describes how Heather Booth learned social justice values through her experience growing up Jewish.

Excerpt from Sally Belfrage's book Freedom Summer describing why people chose to participate in the project.

Heather Booth playing guitar for Fannie Lou Hamer during the Freedom Summer Project in Mississippi, 1964.

Letter from a young activist to her parents. In the letter "Bonnie" asks for understanding from her parents for her involvement in the Freedom Summer Project.

Letter from a Freedom Summer participant describing the heartbreaking forms of discrimination he encountered. Author is not identified in the source material.

Letter from an Freedom Summer Project activist to her parents about the responsibility she feels toward the civil rights movement and those it represents.

Letter to Justice Justine Wise Polier from Annie Stein (writing as the Secretary of the NAACP Schools Workshop), congratulating her on the decision in the Skipwith v. New York City Board of Education.

Letter written to Justine Wise Polier in reaction to the Skipwith v. New York City Board of Education ruling. The author expresses racist views and supports teachers choosing which schools they teach in, even to the detriment of school children. (Spelling errors/typos have been corrected.)

Congressman John Lewis grew up in Alabama, the son of sharecroppers. His experience growing up in the deep South led to his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement where he chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1963-1966. In 1987, John Lewis became a Democratic congressman representing Georgia. As a politician he has continued to fight for civil rights causes. The excerpt below is taken from a 2009 interview by Terry Gross for the NPR program Fresh Air. It describes his youth, and work to end all types of discrimination.

This editorial printed in The Forward in December 2009 describes the need for service programs to actually serve others and not just sustain the good works of volunteers.

Letter describing the author's experiences at the Mississippi Freedom Summer training sessions and in growing up. The author speaks about her feelings about race and class.

A series of excerpts from the Boston Globe eight article feature story on Judith Frieze and her experience as a Freedom Rider in the summer of 1961. She along with fellow activists were arrested and jailed in Jackson, Mississippi. Their purpose was to test Boynton v. Virginia, a Supreme Court case ordering the integration of restaurants and waiting rooms in bus terminals serving interstate bus routes.

In 1971, Marco DeFunis, a white (Jewish) man, applied to the Washington University Law School and was denied admission. He, his wife, and parents brought a suit against the school claiming that he had been discriminated against. The original trial found in DeFunis’ favor, but the Supreme Court of Washington reversed the decision. Because DeFunis was Jewish and affirmative action was a heated issue in the Jewish community at the time, the case attracted a great deal of attention from Jewish organizations and the Jewish press—with a range of viewpoints expressed both in favor of and in opposition to affirmative action policies. In 1974, the case came before the Supreme Court and the Anti-Defamation League submitted a brief supporting the original decision. Below is an excerpt from that brief.

During Passover 1969, Jews and African Americans came together on the first anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination to remember him. A Seder with new readings that connected the Jewish exodus from Egypt with the struggle for Civil Rights in America and Social Justice around the world seemed the perfect way to commemorate and celebrate. This short excerpt takes the Dayenu motif and re-writes it as the opposite - "it would not be sufficient."

On March 12, 1969, Leonard Fein addressed the Synagogue Council of America (an organization of American Synagogue associations) at Columbia University. His basic message was that the Jewish community had overreacted to black anti-Semitism. In this excerpt Fein encourages what he calls "Jewish assertiveness."

This excerpt comes from a paper by Will Maslow delivered to the annual meeting of the Association of Jewish Community Relations Workers on January 11, 1960. The paper, which he marked as “confidential,” deals with anti-Semitic tendencies in the African American community and the development of anti-African American tendencies in the Jewish community. In this excerpt Maslow discusses what he viewed as the causes of "anti-Jewish" sentiments in the African American community.

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Council (SNCC – pronounced “snick”) was founded at Shaw University in North Carolina in 1960. SNCC played a major role in the civil rights movement, organizing and participating in many projects including Freedom Ride, Freedom Summer, and the March on Washington. Though originally working towards a goal of integration, in the mid-1960s many SNCC leaders began to promote a new focus on Black Power. In 1966, SNCC published a position paper on Black Power. This excerpt describes SNCC's view on the roles of African American and white activists in addition to a call for self-determination.

Excerpt from Harry Golden's satirical essay "The Golden Vertical Negro Plan."

Quotation describes the experience Roberta Geller and Rabbi Perry Nussbaum have upon meeting each other in the Hinds County Jail in 1965.

In his sermon on Rosh Hashana morning, Rabbi Grafman of Temple Emanu-El expressed his horror at the violence and loss after the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church and asserted that white citizens in Birmingham – Jews and Christians together– needed to help make things right.

Photo of Abraham Joshua Heschel marching with other civil rights leaders.

This document, a letter signed by a group of rabbis who were in jail together, was drafted overnight by Rabbi Eugene B. Borowitz. His rabbinic colleagues and Al Vorspan of the UAHC staff contributed to the revisions, and Vorspan saw to its distribution. The letter describes why these rabbis went to St. Augustine, what they hoped to accomplish and what occurred while there.

This excerpt comes from texts used at the 1969 Seder where Jews and African Americans came together to commemorate the first anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination. In the excerpt Arthur Waskow describes the violence that had been used in previous struggles for freedom, including Exodus, the American Revolution and the Civil War.