Martha Prescod Norman Noonan 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 seven digital files: 2011.174.80.1a, 2011.174.80.1b, 2011.174.80.1c, 2011.174.80.1d, 2011.174.80.1e, 2011.174.80.1f, and 2011.174.80.1g. Martha Prescod Norman Noonan describes her childhood in Providence, Rhode Island, and being one of the few black families in the neighborhood. Her parents urged her to attend the University of Michigan, where she joined Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and learned about the Civil Rights Movement in the South. She eventually made her way to Albany, Georgia, where she worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. She also worked in the Movement in Mississippi and later in Alabama. Noonan describes the March on Washington, her perception of Mississippi Freedom Summer, and the early iterations of Black Power.

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