Charles Jones oral history interview 1, 2005 May 18

  1. Resources
  2. View Resource

ArchivalResource

Charles Jones oral history interview 1, 2005 May 18

2005

https://goldmine.charlotte.edu/index/render/pid/uncc:28

J. Charles Jones--civil rights activist, Freedom Rider, and founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)--recounts his early life growing up in the Carolinas and his involvement in the civil rights movement. A native of Chester, South Carolina, he describes the strict social divide between whites and blacks living in small southern towns and the constant threat of physical violence for African Americans. While attending Johnson C. Smith University, he was active in student government, which led to his involvement in the larger national student political movement starting in the late 1950s. Mr. Jones discusses his experiences as a delegate to the 7th World Festival of Youth and Students for Peace and Friendship in Vienna, Austria, highlighting his debate with Paul Robeson Jr. on the merits of democracy versus communism and his experiences of African American expat culture in Europe. Because the youth festival was organized by the Soviet Union, Jones's participation drew the attention of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and he describes what it was like having to testify in order to prevent being labeled as a communist by the government and by the media. Mr. Jones describes the powerful effect that reports of the Greensboro sit-in had on him while returning home from testifying in Washington, D.C., citing this as the motivating force behind his decision to start a lunch counter sit-in in Charlotte. Mr. Jones describes the first day of the Charlotte sit-ins and how students and the local media looked to him as a spokesman of the movement due to his heightened media profile. Mr. Jones, a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), continues with a discussion of his civil rights work on the national level, including his activism as one of the Rock Hill Four, who were responsible for SNCC's "Jail No Bail" policy. He also recounts his harrowing experience as a Freedom Rider, and his deep realization of extreme danger and isolation that characterized civil rights activism in Mississippi during 1961. Mr. Jones describes his role in McComb, Mississippi, where he reported on the brutal treatment of student protesters from Burglund High School to the outside world, which prompted his request for help from Robert Kennedy. Explaining that he had to go into hiding to prevent being captured by the police or the Ku Klux Klan, he recalls his first meeting with Assistant Attorney General John Doar and the horror Jones felt upon learning that Doar was also being tracked by the Klan and feared for both their lives. Finally, Mr. Jones reflects on the responsibility he feels in ensuring that history records the experiences of the students and activists who challenged the racist Southern establishment and prevailed.

1 audio file (1:36:39) : digital, MP3 + 1 transcript (30 pages : PDF)

eng, Latn

University of North Carolina, Charlotte, J. Murrey Atkins Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7915095

University of North Carolina, Charlotte, J. Murrey Atkins Library

Related Entities

There are 12 Entities related to this resource.

United States National Student Association

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64v7bcd (corporateBody)

The National Student Association was founded in 1947 as a confederation of student governments across the nation, united for the purpose of improving education. It advocated federal aid for education, student publications without censorship and it took a stand against discrimination. Smith College students began affiliation with the organization the year it was created. In 1978 it merged with the National Student Lobby, forming the United States Student Association....

United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities (1934-1975)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68b1wv3 (corporateBody)

From 1934 to 1937 The U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities began as the Special Committee on Un-American Activities and was also known as the McCormack-Dickstein Committee. The Dies Committee, was created on May 26, 1938, with the approval of House Resolution 282, which authorized the Speaker of the House to appoint a special committee of seven members to investigate un-American activities in the United States, domestic diffusion of propaganda, and all other questions relating thereto...

Howard, Debbie A.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63222fv (person)

Ku Klux Klan 1915-....

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x38p5s (corporateBody)

The Ku Klux Klan was formally incorporated under the laws of the state of Georgia on Dec. 4, 1915. The incorporated organization is a continuance of the earlier post Civil War Reconstruction Era unincorporated Ku Klux Klan and of the Knights of the White Camellia. Women of the Ku Klux Klan was incorporated at a late date as a separate entity. The stated purpose of the KKK was to promote an all White, Protestant United States, excluding all other races and religions. From the descript...

Jones, Charles, 1937-2019

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6t46f43 (person)

Charles Jones was born in Chester, South Carolina, in 1937. He was educated at Biddleville Elementary School, West Charlotte High School, Harbison Junior College, Johnson C. Smith University, and Howard University School of Law; and was employed as an attorney....

West Charlotte High School (Charlotte, N.C.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rc2542 (corporateBody)

Biddleville Elementary School (Charlotte, N.C.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6t49pt3 (corporateBody)

New South Voices (Project)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pc8xx4 (corporateBody)

Robeson, Paula

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6p56cjr (person)

Harbison Junior College

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jh9gr1 (corporateBody)

Johnson C. Smith University

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61g5c1v (corporateBody)

Founded April 1867 at a meeting to the Catawba Presbytery, Biddle Memorial Institute was chartered in 1869 as a private men's institution affiliated with the Presbyterian Church; named for Major Henry Biddle; changed name in 1876 as Biddle University; in 1923 name changed to Johnson C. Smith University; became a four year college in 1924; women were admitted to the senior division in 1932 and to the freshman class in 1941 making the college fully co-educational. From the description ...