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Stay Out For Freedom; Reaction to Boycott Report; Reaction to Boycott Report [1 of 2]

Part of From the Vault. Part of Boston’s 1960s Civil Rights Movement: A Look Back.

06/18/1963

In June 1963 the Education Committee of the Boston Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) presented the Boston School Committee with a 14-Point Proposal to end de facto segregation in the public schools. The contentious and failed negotiations precipitated a series of nonviolent, direct action demonstrations in Boston, not the least of which was the June 18, 1963 Stay Out for Freedom Day. The Massachusetts Freedom Movement, co-chaired by Rev. James Breeden, St. James Episcopal Church and Noel Day, Director, St. Marks Social Center, called for a Stay Out for Freedom direct action whereby Black junior and senior high school students would attend Freedom Schools rather than the Boston public schools. In the two and a half hour special segment, “Reaction to the Boycott Report,” WGBH covered much the day’s activities at the St. Mark’s Social Center, one of the nine Freedom Schools organized by the civil rights leaders. The activities included reports on the negotiations with the Boston School Committee; the singing of Freedom Songs; and lectures by community leaders and college professors on the civil rights struggle across the country and in Boston, nonviolent direct action, civic and educational responsibilities, governmental processes, Negro History, and African History. The Freedom School Program was moderated by Peggy Trotter Dammond, St. Mark’s Social Center and student at Boston University and led in Freedom Songs by Julian Houston, also a Boston University and member of SNCC. The bi-racial faculty included: Royal Bolling, State Representative (Roxbury) and Editor, Boston Sun, Noel Day, Director, St. Mark’s Social Center, Alan Gartner, Chairman, Boston CORE, Dr. Adelaide Hill, Professor, Boston University, Dr. Charles Merrill, Headmaster, Commonwealth School, Massachusetts, Paul Parks, Member, NAACP Education Committee, Dr. Thomas Pettigrew, Professor, Harvard University, Dr. Sumner Rosen, Simmons College, Bryant Rollins, Reporter, Boston Sun and Bishop Anson Phelps Stokes, Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. While the discussion on the meaning and practice of nonviolence evoked a momentous response; Dr. Adelaide Hill’s presentation that showed the historical and ongoing relationship between Africa and Blacks in the United States particularly captured the attention of the students. Summary and select metadata for this record was submitted by Audrea Dunham. PART 1 Of 2, Day’s Freedom School, Reaction to Stay Out


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Series
Stay Out For Freedom
Program
Reaction to Boycott Report
Title

Reaction to Boycott Report [1 of 2]

Series Description

Radio series. Series release date: 1963

Program Description

Radio

Duration

02:32:05

Asset Type

Broadcast program

Media Type

Audio

Subjects
Freedom Schools
Race Relations-Northern Discrimination
African Americans-Freedom Songs
African Americans-Educational Opportunities
African Americans-Social Justice
Civil Rights Era
African Americans-Human Rights
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Stay Out for Freedom Day
Politics-National Association for the Advancement of Colored People/Boston School Committee Negotiations
Boston, Massachusetts
Race Relations-Nonviolent Direct Action
African Americans-Structural Racism
African Americans-Civil Rights
Politics-1963 Boston School Committee Election
Race Relations-De facto Segregation
African Americans-Educational Opportunities
Race Relations-Similarities in discrimination in the North and South
Topics
Social Issues
Contributors
Parks, Paul (Speaker)
Rollins, Bryant (Speaker)
Merrill, Charles (Speaker)
Holson, Al (Producer)
Dammond, Peggy Trotter (Speaker)
Bolling, Royal (Speaker)
Connelly, Tom (Reporter)
Day, Noel (Speaker)
Hill, Adelaide (Speaker)
Houston, Julian (Speaker)
Mascott, Ted (Producer)
Gartner, Alan (Speaker)
Stokes, Anson Phelps (Speaker)
Rosen, Sumner (Speaker)
Pettigrew, Thomas (Speaker)
Citation
Chicago: “Stay Out For Freedom; Reaction to Boycott Report; Reaction to Boycott Report [1 of 2],” 06/18/1963, GBH Archives, accessed March 19, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/A_D36BEAD747064F0C9491E06BB43F2DC2.
MLA: “Stay Out For Freedom; Reaction to Boycott Report; Reaction to Boycott Report [1 of 2].” 06/18/1963. GBH Archives. Web. March 19, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/A_D36BEAD747064F0C9491E06BB43F2DC2>.
APA: Stay Out For Freedom; Reaction to Boycott Report; Reaction to Boycott Report [1 of 2]. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/A_D36BEAD747064F0C9491E06BB43F2DC2
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