The year 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of Mississippi Freedom Summer. This program introduces educators to materials that investigate how community organizing, Jewish values, and moral conviction influenced the lives of Jewish Freedom Summer activists. During the session, Etta King, JWA’s Education Program Manager, models activities that you can use to teach your students about courage, activism, and Jewish identity using the Living the Legacy curriculum.

Session Recording

View the recording to hear historical background on Jewish volunteers during 1964 Freedom Summer and to watch model activities.

Session Materials and Handouts

• PowerPoint Presentation
• Chat Log
• Lino Board: Responses from the concluding letter writing activity, “Voices of Freedom Summer”

Lesson Links

• Lesson Plan: Community Organizing 1: Freedom Summer from Living the Legacy: A Jewish Social Justice Education Project
• Freedom Summer: Introductory essay
• Document Studies

Related Resources from the Jewish Women’s Archive

• Jewish Women in the Civil Rights Movement
• Civil Rights Oral Histories on JWA's YouTube Channel
• Go & Learn Lesson about Jews, Music, and Civil Rights

Freedom Summer elsewhere on the web

• Freedom Summer from Eyes on the Prize
• Freedom Summer in the Civil Rights Digital Library