‘The power of collective action’ at the heart of IUSB’s new Civil Rights Heritage Center

The center evolved out of a trip a few students took last summer to the Deep South (see related story, this page) led by IUSB historian Les Lamon. The group traced the steps of those who were involved in the national movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The students returned with insight and a need to continue the work locally. Lamon said he didn’t expect to get such a response from his students. He hadn’t realized how relevant the movement still is.

Another trip is planned for 2002.

The center has secured several grants: $20,000 from the African-American Community Fund at the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County; $8,000 from the local Bowsher-Booher Fund; and $1,000 from the Indiana Humanities Council. Some of the grant money is being used to develop traveling displays.

Presently, Lamon said, the center is working on programming to take information to schools, churches and community organizations. “We want to convey to the community that civil rights was not just something in the past. It is living history. We want to make it alive. It was a local movement that involved people who made a commitment to change.”

The center will reach out to the community, especially youth. Lamon said the center will help develop more active citizens who will see the “power of collective action and appreciate the utility of staying in school, gaining post-secondary credentials and positioning themselves for future leadership.”

He added that the goal of the center will direct people to look at the issues that still exist, like voting, redistricting and racial profiling, and to think about those issues and their solutions as the continuation of the civil rights movement.

“The American civil rights movement has great meaning and value in local communities in the 21st century.”