Guiding Question:
How was a small organization, run mostly by college students and operating out of a small office in Atlanta, able to have such a far-reaching impact on America social, cultural, and political life? And what can we learn from their model of fundraising and recruitment?
Step 1: Listen to Richardson
Judy Richardson joined SNCC via the Cambridge Project. At the time, she was a student at Swarthmore College. In 1963, she became a full-time staff member and worked in the national office. What did she see from her position as a member of the National Office?
Step 1: Listen to Fannie Rushing
Step 2: Listen to Robert Sparks
Step 2: Examine SNCC’s Friends Program
Richardson and other members of the National Office worked closely with Friends of SNCC Chapters. What were “Friends of SNCC’ chapters? From the document below, what purposes did they serve?
Step 3: Explore the Map
Over the course of the three years that Richardson worked in the National Office, SNCC Friends chapters grew from 19 to 73 chapters. Click on the red dotes and examine what SNCC chapters did locally and nationally. What stands out and why?
Step 4: The Boston Friends Chapter
A key chapter of SNCC’s fundraising strategy was the Boston Friends of SNCC. The Boston Chapter was located near Harvard University, where the organization turned for fundraising and political support. In working with Boston Friends of SNCC, what issues arose? (Resource numbers, Harvard Letter, Faculty Letter)
Step 5: Apply what you learned
Think about your campus or community. What organizations are present? Learn about those organizations. What do they focus on? Do they have shared missions? Then, learn more about a national organization whose work you respect. Drawing inspiration from Richardson and SNCC’s Friends Network, develop a strategy. What can you do locally to support the efforts of your chosen national organization? How can that support illuminate and challenge local issues?
Other Resources:
The History Makers
Short Biography of Judy Richardson
SNCC Digital Gateway
Judy Richardson’s Involvement in SNCC
Scholarship
David S. Busch, “The Political and Economic Geography of SNCC’s Friends Network”
Wesley Hogan, “How Democracy Travels: SNCC, Swarthmore Students, and the Growth of the Student Movement in the North, 1961-1964,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 126, No. 3 (Jul. 2002), pp. 437-470.