1. Southern Politics Oral History Collection

The Bass-DeVries Interviews was a project interviewing political leaders, journalists, editors, party officials, political scientists, campaign directors, union officials, civil rights leaders, and congresspersons from eleven southern states, including Mississippi. The interviews were part of a study of southern politics between 1945 and 1974. The findings of this study were published as The Transformation of Southern Politics: Social Change and Political Consequences since 1945. (Basic Books, 1976). In all, 300 interviews were conducted between 1973 and 1975 in this project funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. The Southern Oral History Program has transcripts of 215 of the most important interviews, including the impact of the civil rights movement. Principal interviewers were Jack Solomon Bass and Walter De Vries. Listed below are 26 interviews related to the movement in Mississippi.

Interviews conducted between 1990 and 1991 by John Egerton as part of the research for his book on the opportunities that the post-WWII era presented for positive action on civil rights. Included are interviews with individuals who were involved in various ways in the civil rights struggle. Please note that much of the discussion in the tapes concerns the interviewees' reactions to Egerton's thesis about the time period. Two interviews pertaining to the civil rights movement in Mississippi are listed here.