Themes

Each panel in the exhibit has a big idea or theme relating to character traits of engaged citizenship, 2-4 photographs that relate to the big idea, and a historical narrative provided to add context for those who are engaging with the panels in more informal ways. The exhibit panel images presented here allow students to engage with powerful visual imagery and storytelling and can be used as a supplement to the lesson plans or exhibit panel viewing.
Atlantic City Boardwalk, August 1964. Photograph by George Ballis. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addresses the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party rally in front of the convention center. Behind him are images of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, civil rights workers slain in Mississippi. © 1976, George Ballis / Photograph provided by TakeStock.
Activism
Voter Registration, July 1964. Photograph by Herbert Randall. Volunteer Dick Landerman discusses voter registration procedures with local resident Hattie Mae Pough at her home. The child in the foreground is Trudie Sloan, who lived next door; the other three children are Mrs. Pough's. M351 Herbert Randall Freedom Summer Photographs, Historical Manuscripts, The University of Southern Mississippi.
Determination
Register and Vote, 1964. Photograph by Steve Schapiro. Poster encouraging people to register and vote featuring the images of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner as martyrs for freedom. Photograph in the collection of Miami University Art Museum, Oxford Ohio. Partial gift of the artist and partial purchase with contributions from the Kezur Endowment Fund (2019.23.17).
Identity
Freedom Summer Volunteers and Activists on the Lawn in Front of Clawson Hall at Western College for Women Join in Singing, June 1964. Photograph by George R. Hoxie. George R. Hoxie Photograph Collection at the Smith Library of Regional History.
Bravery
Dr. Staughton Lynd Talks to Volunteers, June 1964. Photograph by Herbert Randall. Dr. Staughton Lynd, director of the Freedom Schools, talks to a large group of Freedom Summer volunteers in Peabody Hall on the Western College campus while SNCC staff photographer, Tamio "Tom" Wakayama, takes a photograph of the audience. M351 Herbert Randall Freedom Summer Photographs, Historical Manuscripts, The University of Southern Mississippi.
Courage
Freedom School, Mileston, Mississippi, August 1964. Photograph by Matt Herron. Edie Black, a volunteer from Smith College, teaches at a Freedom School in Mileston, a community of independent Black farmers in the Mississippi Delta. © 1976, Matt Herron / Photograph provided by TakeStock.
Passion
Bob Moses, June 1964. Photograph by Steve Schapiro. Picture of Bob Moses taken during the Freedom Summer orientation session in Oxford, Ohio. Photograph in the collection of Miami University Art Museum, Oxford Ohio. Partial gift of the artist and partial purchase with contributions from the Kezur Endowment Fund (2019.23.2).
Leadership
Student Volunteers Sing with Fannie Lou Hamer, June 1964. Photograph by George R. Hoxie. Fannie Lou Hamer sings with Freedom Summer volunteers outside of Western College's Clawson Hall. George R. Hoxie Photograph Collection at the Smith Library of Regional History.
Unity
John Lewis, 1963. Photograph by Steve Schapiro. Portrait of John Lewis standing outside of a brick building in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Photograph in the collection of Miami University Art Museum, Oxford Ohio. Partial gift of the artist and partial purchase with contributions from the Kezur Endowment Fund (2019.23.12).
Empowerment
"Missing: Call FBI, 1964." Photograph by an unidentified photographer. International Center of Photography, New York City. Anonymous Gift, 2005 (10.2005). Photograph provided by the International Center of Photography.
Injustice
Freedom Summer Chimes Installation. Photograph by Scott Kissell. © 2014, Miami University.
Memory
Children Registering for Freedom School, 1964. Photograph by Carol Gross Colca. Children registered for Freedom Schools to learn how to be engaged citizens within their communities and make a difference. Mississippi Freedom Summer Collection, Walter Havighurst Special Collections and University Archives, Miami University Libraries, Oxford OH.
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