Oral history interview with Jane Bond Moore, 2002

Biographical Note

Jane Bond Moore - lawyer and professor of law - is the daughter of Horace Mann Bond, an American historian and college administrator, and Julia Agnes Washington Bond, a librarian. The Bond family has a history of leadership at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) within the United States. They have served at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana; Fort Valley State College in Fort Valley, Georgia; Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia; and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. She is the oldest child in the family. Her brothers include James and Julian, a former Georgia politician, social activist, professor, and writer. Moore attended Spelman College and attended graduate school at Indiana University and Atlanta University before earning her law degree at the University of California Berkeley's School of Law in 1976. She practiced law with her husband Howard Moore, was employed by the Oakland Unified School District, and taught law at Notre Dame de Namur University and JFK University Law School. Jane Bond Moore are the parents of three children. Moore is also a mystery writer

Scope and Contents

Jane Bond Moore discusses her family's history and role in the advancement, and leadership, of historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), their role in the fight against segregation and discrimination, and her own nonviolent direct action activism. Moore discusses her father's appointments at various HBCUs including Dillard University, Fort Valley State College, Lincoln University, and Atlanta University. She also discusses her mother's return to school, at the age of 56, to earn a library science degree from Atlanta University and her career at Atlanta and Clark Atlanta Universities. Moore also discusses her experience with segregation and desegregation in Chester County, Pennsylvania and Atlanta, Georgia. She discusses her brother's involvement in the Atlanta student protest movement in March 1960 following the Greensboro sit-ins and the actions taken by Atlanta's students through the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR). This led to Julian and her work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Moore recalls her involvement in the student movement, her work with the Southern Regional Council (SRC), Dottie (Dorothy) Zellner, and the Albany, Georgia desegregation campaign. She reflects on her family's decision to relocate to California, her husband's work on Angela Davis' trial, the gendered impact of the trial on her and its influence on her decision to attend law school. Bond Moore discusses the two-year battle to have Julian sworn in and seated in the Georgia State legislature, after he expressed opposition to the Vietnam War. Last, she discusses her law career, her desire to teach in South Africa, the lessons she learned from involvement in 1960s protest activity, and her view of the current generation of students' lack of knowledge of their political power

Subjects

• African American universities and colleges.
• Bond, Julian, 1940-2015.
• Civil rights demonstrations--United States.
• Civil rights movements--United States--History--20th century.
• Davis, Angela Y. (Angela Yvonne), 1944-
• Georgia--Politics and government.
• Interviews.
• Lawyers--Interviews.
• Michaels, Sheila, 1939-2017, interviewer.
• Moore, Jane Bond, 1938---Interviews.
• Oral histories.
• Student movements.
• United States--Race relations--History--20th century.