top of page

Crawfordville Student Movement of 1965 (photos courtesy of the Wisconsin Veteran Museum (Madison, WI)

I received an email from Lacy McDonald, genealogy and local history manager of the Hayner Public Library District of Alton, Illinois. 


From the conversation, I learned that Robert J Ellison, Civil Rights Movement, and Vietnam War photographer art exhibit, will be held at the Hatheway Cultural Center Gallery. 


This exhibit is important to Taliaferro County and the Springfield Community in particular due to its impact on the community. 


The photos were taken of the Murden Segregation Protest and School Bus Boycott, which began after the firing of five educators. Two of those educators, Calvin Turner and his wife Florence, were from the Springfield Community. Mr. Turner was designated the local leader by the SCLC and worked with such great men as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Willie Bolden (pictured), Rep. Hosea Williams, and Rev. Andrew Young. 


The Log Cabin School, which we are trying to restore, was used as the Freedom School during the Marches; therefore, students could continue their education through the college student volunteers of the SCOPE (Summer Community Organization and Political Education) project. 


We are excited about the project and hope to bring it home after Illinois. 

(Russell P Horton, DVA Reference and Outreach Archivist for the Wisconsin Veteran Museum sent copies of the 60 photos of the Crawfordville Student Movement.



I am displaying a few here the rest to be displayed in the restored Springfield Log School once completed.



Attached is the link to Willie Bolden and Rev. Andrew Young discussing the movement. 



To learn more about the event: 









Comments


bottom of page