Walter Bergman, Freedom Rider collection
Overview
This volume, compiled by Laird M. Wilcox, contains copies of Federal Bureau of Investigation documents that were produced in a lawsuit filed against the FBI by civil rights advocate Walter Bergman who, as a Freedom Ride participant, was beaten by Ku Klux Klansmen in 1961 at Birmingham, Alabama. The documents relate to the FBI's knowledge of events leading up to the attack, including its interactions with the Klan and with local police.
Dates
- Creation: 1984
Creator
- Wilcox, Laird M. (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
No access restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Spencer Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.
History of Walter Bergman and the Freedom Riders of 1961
In May 1961, retired Michigan professor Walter Bergman and his wife Frances joined eleven others in a racially integrated Freedom Ride of the South, as a challenge to segregation. At Birmingham, Alabama, their members were beaten with fists and clubs by KU Klux Klansmen, causing Walter Bergman to suffer permanent injuries which confined him to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. He later filed a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation, charging that it knew of the Klan's planned attack, but did nothing to prevent it. The Bergmans continued to work for civil rights, receiving honors from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Extent
1 folder (ring-bound volume)
Language of Materials
English
Physical Location
RH WL MS 6
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift, Laird M. Wilcox, 1985
Subject
- Bergman, Walter, 1899-1999 (Person)
- United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation (Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the Walter Bergman Freedom Rider Collection
- Subtitle
- Walter Bergman, Freedom Rider collection
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by mh, 2007 Finding aid encoded by mh, 2007
- Date
- 2007
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Finding aid written in<language encodinganalog="language">English.</language>
- Finding aid permalink
- http://hdl.handle.net/10407/2491467600
- Preferred citation
-
Wilcox, Laird M, Walter Bergman, Freedom Rider collection, Wilcox Collection, Kansas Collection, RH WL MS 6, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries
Repository Details
Part of the University of Kansas. Kenneth Spencer Research Library Repository