Oral history interview with James Feely, 1999

Biographical Note

James Feely was born in Montana in 1927 to a conservative and religious family. Upon graduating from Northwestern College in Minnesota, Feely married Marilynne Bulla. Feely discovered liberalism while attending graduate school at Washington University. He was a professor of literature at Lindenwood University from 1958 to 1997. He joined St. Louis CORE in 1960 and co-founded ACTION (Action Committee to Improve Opportunities for Negroes) with Percy Green. Through CORE and ACTION, Feely participated in many demonstrations, including the Jefferson National Bank sit-in of 1963 and the Gateway Arch Action of 1964. He and his wife had three children: Jeffrie, James, and John. Feely died in 2013

Scope and Contents

The interview begins with a discussion of Feely's conservative background, his parent's occupations, and his education. As an adolescent, Feely was sent to the Stony Brook School, a Christian boarding school in New York. Upon graduating from Stony Brook, Feely attended New York University and Northwestern College (University of Northwestern - St. Paul) in Minnesota. After marrying classmate Marilynne Bulla, Feely worked several odd jobs before deciding to pursue a career in the academy. While at graduate school at Washington University in 1959, Feely met CORE members Tim Riley and Perry Proctor. Feely describes his first CORE meeting in 1960, during which he met Percy Green. Feely goes on to recall picketing White Castle. Feely explains his embrace of the civil rights movement. He also recalls the privileged treatment he received from law enforcement, events in the lives of his three children, and the influence activism had his children. The next portion of the interview is spent detailing Feely's experience as an activist-academic. Feely describes the political atmosphere of Lindenwood College and the surrounding community. Naming University President Franc L. McCluer and English Department Chair Alice Parker as allies, Feely speaks to the power of literature to induce social action. Feely goes on to discuss a dramatization of the disappearance of Chaney, Schwerner, and Goodman that ACTION performed; a diner sit-in in Columbia, Missouri; the significance of legislation; and his downtown St. Louis neighborhood. Feely summarizes the attempts of the FBI and CIA to thwart ACTION. Also discussed is: Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, and African religions

Subjects

• Civil rights demonstrations--United States.
• Civil rights movements--United States--History--20th century.
• College teachers--Interviews.
• Feely, James--Interviews.
• Green, Percy.
• Interviews.
• Lindenwood College.
• Michaels, Sheila, 1939-2017, interviewer.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• St. Louis Committee of Racial Equality.
• United States--Race relations--History--20th century.
• United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation.