Oral history interview with Richard Landerman, 1999

Biographical Note

Richard L. Landerman grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut. He attended Duke University for both his bachelor's and postgraduate education. In 1979, Landerman received a PhD in medicine. Subsequently, he served as an Assistant Medical Research Professor, Associate Professor in the School of Nursing, and Associate Professor at Duke University's School of Medicine. During his time as an undergraduate, Landerman participated in civil rights demonstrations in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In the summer of his sophomore year, Landerman left Duke to participate in the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project. Landerman stayed in Hattiesburg, Mississippi until the winter of 1964. Upon returning to Duke University in 1965, Landerman began working towards social change with poor white communities around Durham and eastern North Carolina

Scope and Contents

Landerman begins this interview by describing his upbringing in West Hartford, Connecticut and his early impressions of Duke University, including its political atmosphere. Landerman explains how attending civil rights demonstrations in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1962 shifted his passion from athletics to politics. He describes Duke CORE, including the organization's structure and its early leaders, Sara Evans and Harry Boyd. He recalls his experience participating in the Durham desegregation campaign in May of 1963, for which he was arrested and missed a semester of school. Landerman explains his decision to leave Duke for the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project. Landerman details his experiences in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, including his connection to Hattiesburg's Black teenagers. He describes the small, rural communities he has worked in across the south. He also recalls the Waveland Conference of 1964, and his experiences canvassing. Landerman concludes his recollections with a summation of his life after Mississippi. He discusses the student initiative he co-founded in 1965 to lift up the poor white community in Durham, North Carolina. Finally, Landerman discusses the flaws of the group, his evolving position on the women's movement, and the social pressures and willingness of civil rights workers to risk their personal safety

Subjects

• Civil rights demonstrations--North Carolina--Durham.
• Civil rights movements--United States--History--20th century.
• Civil rights workers--Mississippi--History--20th century.
• Congress of Racial Equality.
• Duke University.
• Hattiesburg (Miss.)--History.
• Interviews.
• Landerman, Richard--Interviews.
• Michaels, Sheila, 1939-2017, interviewer.
• Oral histories.
• United States--Race relations--History--20th century.