Participation Type
Roundtable
Session Title
Session 7.13 Ethnicity and Race
Session Abstract or Summary
This roundtable will focus on early civil rights efforts in the Appalachian region, particularly on organizations in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the early 1950s.
In 1950 a group of women in Knoxville, Tennessee, met to plan a day camp for their children. “The purpose of this Day Camp shall be to create an atmosphere for children in which they may develop understanding and appreciation of their neighbors here in the community, and in the whole great wide world.” The integrated camp began that summer and continued until 1972, bringing together children and staff from across Knoxville communities.
The organizers of the day camp went on to establish a local “Fellowship House,” an organization that sought to “… bring together in an atmosphere of common purpose people of all national, racial, and religious origins, and to provide them opportunity for sharing experiences.” Fellowship House members were active in efforts to integrate the University of Tennessee as well as the Knoxville City Schools.
As a child attending the camp in 1954, I saw it as an opportunity to have fun with other children. Now I recognize the significance of the efforts of the women and men who organized the camp and the Fellowship House. In this roundtable I will share what I have learned in preliminary research and moderate a discussion of the occurrence and significance of civil rights efforts in the Appalachian region before Brown vs. Education.
Sandra Godwin, associate professor of sociology at Georgia College & State University, will give brief remarks.
Presentation #1 Title
Bringing People Together: Inter-racial Efforts in the Early 1950s in Knoxville
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
This roundtable will focus on early civil rights efforts in the Appalachian region, particularly on organizations in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the early 1950s. In 1950 a group of women in Knoxville, Tennessee, met to plan a day camp for their children. “The purpose of this Day Camp shall be to create an atmosphere for children in which they may develop understanding and appreciation of their neighbors here in the community, and in the whole great wide world.” The integrated camp began that summer and continued until 1972, bringing together children and staff from across Knoxville communities. The organizers of the day camp went on to establish a local “Fellowship House,” an organization that sought to “… bring together in an atmosphere of common purpose people of all national, racial, and religious origins, and to provide them opportunity for sharing experiences.” Fellowship House members were active in efforts to integrate the University of Tennessee as well as the Knoxville City Schools. As a child attending the camp in 1954, I saw it as an opportunity to have fun. Now I recognize the significance of the efforts of the women who organized the camp and the Fellowship House. In this roundtable I will share what I have learned in preliminary research and moderate a discussion of the occurrence and significance of civil rights efforts in the Appalachian region before Brown vs. Education. Sandra Godwin, associate professor of sociology at Georgia College & State University, will give brief remarks.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Beth Bingman has worked as Managing Director of Appalshop, an arts, media and education center in Whitesburg, Kentucky, as Associate Director of the Center for Literacy Studies at the University of Tennessee, and as a special education teacher. She is now retired and active in local community development efforts in southwest Virginia.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Sandra Godwin is associate professor of sociology at Georgia College & State University. She has recently co-authored a manuscript with Helen Lewis on the Southern Student YWCA which they argue, operated as an incubator for justice for many women across the South during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s -- a time when neither the civil rights movement nor the feminist movement had taken strong hold.
Bringing People Together: Inter-racial Efforts in the Early 1950s in Knoxville
This roundtable will focus on early civil rights efforts in the Appalachian region, particularly on organizations in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the early 1950s. In 1950 a group of women in Knoxville, Tennessee, met to plan a day camp for their children. “The purpose of this Day Camp shall be to create an atmosphere for children in which they may develop understanding and appreciation of their neighbors here in the community, and in the whole great wide world.” The integrated camp began that summer and continued until 1972, bringing together children and staff from across Knoxville communities. The organizers of the day camp went on to establish a local “Fellowship House,” an organization that sought to “… bring together in an atmosphere of common purpose people of all national, racial, and religious origins, and to provide them opportunity for sharing experiences.” Fellowship House members were active in efforts to integrate the University of Tennessee as well as the Knoxville City Schools. As a child attending the camp in 1954, I saw it as an opportunity to have fun. Now I recognize the significance of the efforts of the women who organized the camp and the Fellowship House. In this roundtable I will share what I have learned in preliminary research and moderate a discussion of the occurrence and significance of civil rights efforts in the Appalachian region before Brown vs. Education. Sandra Godwin, associate professor of sociology at Georgia College & State University, will give brief remarks.
