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Freedom Summer | Clip

Freedom Summer @ 50: The Politician

From the Collections: Freedom Summer @ 50 | Civil Rights

A folk singer. A photographer. A future politician. They all went to Mississippi for different reasons—some were already there. But they all had a common goal: to shatter the foundations of white supremacy in what was one of the nation's most racist and segregated states. Fifty years later, American Experience filmmakers revisited those who were there. 

Long before he became a Congressman from Massachusetts, Barney Frank volunteered for the Freedom Summer project in 1964. As a teenager in New Jersey, Frank had been deeply affected by the murder of Emmett Till, and Frank became aware of how ingrained racism was in society. He went to Mississippi because he "couldn't justify not going." 

Watch more Freedom Summer @ 50
Freedom Summer @ 50: The Librarian
Freedom Summer @ 50: The Publisher
Freedom Summer @ 50: The Activist
Freedom Summer @ 50: The Foot Soldier
Freedom Summer @ 50: The Voter
Freedom Summer @ 50: The Teacher
Freedom Summer @ 50: The Photographer
Freedom Summer @ 50: The Preservationist
Freedom Summer @ 50: The Folk Singer

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