By Sarah Quigley, Project Archivist for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference records, MARBL
"Working for Freedom: Documenting Civil Rights Organizations" is a collaborative project between Emory University's Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, and The Robert W. Woodruff Library of Atlanta University Center to uncover and make available previously hidden collections documenting the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta and New Orleans. The project is administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources with funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Each organization regularly contributes blog posts about their progress.
In the Spring of 1968, SCLC launched the Poor People’s Campaign. Though planning began prior to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the campaign itself did not officially begin until May. The first major action was the construction of Resurrection City on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Poor demonstrators traveled by mule train and bus from across the country to take up residence in the city and join SCLC in demanding food stamps, jobs and job training, and housing. Resurrection City was intended to be the embodiment of SCLC’s vision for the nation: a peaceful and loving community, fully integrated, free from greed, envy and want. It was also meant to be a stark example of the plight of the poor in America. As Ralph David Abernathy described it in his autobiography,
