Interview with Julian Bond, February 27, 2012

Partial Transcript: What should I call you...

Segment Synopsis: Horace Julian Bond, born in Nashville, TN in 1940, briefly shares his family background. His father's employment at various universities required them to move around in his youth. He describes life on Lincoln University campus as the president's son and recalls memories with many influential African American figures.

Keywords: Clark Atlanta University; Edward Franklin Frazier; Fort Valley State University; Fort Valley, GA; James Bond; Jane Margaret Bond; Lincoln University (Pennsylvania); Macon, GA; Meharry Medical College and George W. Hubbard Hospital; Paul Leroy Robeson; William Edward Burghardt Du Bois

Partial Transcript: Where did you go to school there?

Segment Synopsis: Bond shares his school experience while growing up on Lincoln University's campus, explaining that it had previously been segregated, integrating only after his father filed a lawsuit. His parents later enrolled him in a private Quaker prep school where he finished high school. He discusses how he feels it affected his social philosophy, particularly the significance of nonviolence.

Keywords: Brown v. Board of Education; Civil Rights Movement; George School; Laura Oxford Consolidated High School; Lincoln University (Pennsylvania); Oxford, PA

Partial Transcript: So, after graduation you moved to Atlanta.

Segment Synopsis: Bond explains that after his high school graduation, his father got a job at Atlanta University, leading to their move to Atlanta. He recalls reading of the violent hate crimes that took present in the south which contrasted with his experience of Atlanta. He discusses his time studying at Morehouse College, his view of Dr. Benjamin Mays, and being a student of Martin Luther King.

Keywords: The Pegasus; Atlanta, GA; Baltimore Afro-American (The Afro); Benjamin Elijah Mays; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Pittsburgh Courier; Spelman College

Partial Transcript: I know you've told this thousands of times...

Segment Synopsis: Bond details his first involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, beginning with Lonnie King and Joseph Pierce suggesting they have their own sit-in after the Greensboro sit-in. He explains gathering people from all surrounding schools and organizations and preparation for their first sit-in, which took place in the Atlanta City Hall cafeteria. He also discusses the publication of "An Appeal for Human Rights" in The Atlanta Journal, The Atlanta Constitution, and Atlanta Daily World.

Keywords: Atlanta, GA; Brown v. Board of Education; Civil Rights; Clark Atlanta University; F. W. Woolworth Company department store; Greensboro, North Carolina; Herschelle Sullivan Challenor; Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC); Lillian Eugenia Smith; Lonnie C. King Jr.; Morehouse College; Morris Brown College; North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College; Samuel Ernest Vandiver Jr.; Spelman College; William Berry Hartsfield, Sr; Yates and Milton Drugstores

Partial Transcript: Did you and your fellow students...

Segment Synopsis: Bond explains that he and other students never considered any potential economic damage or retaliation directed at the general Black public. He discusses the response of Black political leaders and their objections to the students' actions compared to encouragement of younger leaders within the community.

Keywords: Clark Atlanta University; M. Carl Holman; Rosa Louise McCauley Parks; The Atlanta Committee for Cooperative Action; Whitney Moore Young Jr.; “A Second Look: The Negro Citizen in Atlanta”

Partial Transcript: Getting back to the Atlanta Campaign...

Segment Synopsis: Bond explains that he and other students planned to follow the steps of peers north of Atlanta. They performed a series of sit-ins at Rich's department store and boycott of the downtown area, during which they were later joined by Martin Luther King.

Keywords: 1960 United States presidential election; Atlanta, GA; Civil Rights Movement; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; JFK and the Blue Bomb; John F. Kennedy 1960 presidential campaign; John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK); Richard Milhous Nixon; Robert Francis Kennedy

Partial Transcript: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee...

Segment Synopsis: Bond explains how he came to be a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC) following an invitation to a conference of civil rights organizations. He shares the electing of chairman and director, as well as setting up offices in Atlanta. Bond discusses that the original plan for SNCC was to coordinate for the various nonviolent student groups that had risen, but the organization developed as it went on, taking on projects in freedom rides.

Keywords: Anniston, Alabama; Benjamin Brown; Chevene Bowers "C. B." King; Congress of Racial Equality; Ella Josephine Bake; Fellowship of Reconciliation; James Earl Carter Jr.; Jane Shelton Stembridge; John F. Kennedy; Lonnie C. King Jr.; Marion Shepilov Barry; Martin Luther King, Jr.; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Raleigh, NC; Ralph Edwin King Jr.; Shaw University; Slater King; Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Partial Transcript: Did you have, uh, an overall plan...

Segment Synopsis: Bond discusses that the original plan for SNCC was to coordinate for the various nonviolent student groups that had risen, but the organization developed as it went on. He explains how they became directly involved in freedom rides after initial attacks. He comments on his surprise at the support from the white community during nonviolent protests.

Keywords: Anniston, Alabama; Congress of Racial Equality; Diane Judith Nash; Fellowship of Reconciliation; Freedom Riders; Jackson, Alabama; James Leonard Farmer Jr.; Montgomery, Alabama; Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

Partial Transcript: Voter education project...

Segment Synopsis: Bond details how the Voter Education Project (VEP) began with the Southern Regional Council to promote registered black voters. He explains that the project was promoted by President John F. Kennedy in effort to minimize the chaos of the Civil Rights Movement. Bond shares his disappointed in the contribution of JFK and his administration to the movement.

Keywords: Alabama; Democratic Party; Freedom Riders; John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK); Kennedy Administration; Little Rock Nine; Little Rock, Arkansas; Lyndon Baines Johnson; Mississippi; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); Wiley Austin Branton

Partial Transcript: Well, uh, just wanted to move along now...

Segment Synopsis: Bond discusses his being elected to the House of Representatives after districts were redrawn in Georgia. He mentions the conflict he faced after expressing his feelings against the war, which led to being removed from his seat. Bond filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court, was re-elected, and went on to serve in state and national politics.

Keywords: Atlanta, GA; Benjamin Brown; Bond v. Floyd; Civil Rights Movement; Georgia legislature; Horace Taliaferro Ward; John Robert Lewis; Leroy Reginald Johnson; Lester Garfield Maddox Sr; Ralph David Abernathy Sr.; Roscoe Emory Dean Jr; Samuel Leamon Younge Jr.; Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC); United States Congress; United States House of Representatives; United States Senate

Partial Transcript: One of the things I remember...

Segment Synopsis: Bond shares his experience of the 1968 National Democratic Convention and each delegation. He details creating a racially integrated delegation with Taylor Branch and funding the trip to Chicago through Elijah Muhammad.

Keywords: Eugene Joseph McCarthy; Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr; Lester Garfield Maddox Sr.; Macon, GA; Robert Francis Kennedy

Partial Transcript: Okay, uh, after a long career in...

Segment Synopsis: Bond recalls Howard Moore's work for Don Hollowell and his own visit to the University of Georgia for the Atlanta Inquirer during the integration of the university. He advises modern day activists to have perseverance. Bond discusses founding the Southern Poverty Law Center with lawyers Joe Levin and Morris Dees.

Keywords: Charlayne Hunter-Gault; Chloe Anthony Wofford (Toni) Morrison; Donald Lee Hollowell; Hamilton E. Holmes; Horace Taliaferro Ward; Howard Moore, Jr.; Morris Seligman Dees Jr.; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Rosa Louise McCauley Parks; Samuel Ernest Vandiver Jr.; University of Georgia (UGA)

Partial Transcript: Let's go back to this is your life...

Segment Synopsis: Bond discusses the progression of his teaching career and each university he has taught at up to the present after coming back from losing the congressional race. He also mentions re-entering the NAACP Atlanta Branch and conflicts on the board before serving as Chairman for eleven years.

Keywords: Alice Clopton; America's Black Forum; American University; Drexel University; Harvard University; Jondelle Johnson; Myrlie Louise Evers–Williams; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Pamela Horowitz; Roslyn McCallister Brock; Southern Poverty Law Center; The Julian Bond Professorship of Civil Rights and Social Justice; University of Pennsylvania; University of Virginia; Williams College

Partial Transcript: If you will, please go back with me...

Segment Synopsis: Bond discusses the progression of SNCC towards a Black Power organization, which led to many disputes, specifically regarding the white employees. He opines that eventually the organization became more "anti-white" and faded out. He reflects on his time involved in Civil Rights organizations, expressing his appreciation.

Keywords: Atlanta, GA; Civil Rights Movement; Eleanor Holmes Norton; John Robert Lewis; Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture); Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); racial equality