Thomas Walter Gaither Oral History Interview

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

The oral history consists of ten digital files: 2011.174.43.1a, 2011.174.43.1b, 2011.174.43.1c, 2011.174.43.1d, 2011.174.43.1e, 2011.174.43.1f, 2011.174.43.1g, 2011.174.43.1h, 2011.174.43.1i, and 2011.174.43.1j. Thomas Gaither, Ph. D. recalls growing up in Great Falls, South Carolina, attending Claflin College, and leading the college's National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter. He remembers the student sit-ins in Orangeburg, South Carolina, joining the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and being arrested for protesting in Hollywood, Florida. He discusses organizing the Freedom Rides, his belief in nonviolence, and earning his Ph. D. in biology at the University of Iowa.

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