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Oral History Interview with Igal Rodenko, April 11, 1974. Interview B-0010. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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Abstract
Igal Rodenko was born to first-generation immigrants in New York City in 1917. Throughout the 1930s, Rodenko was drawn to leftist politics and pacifism. He describes the internal dilemma that he and other pacifists faced as they sought to reconcile their ideals of non-violence with their belief that Hitler's regime warranted opposition. Ultimately, Rodenko became a conscientious objector during the conflict. Rather than facing a prison sentence for his refusal to bear arms, Rodenko spent most of World War II in a camp for conscientious objectors. Increasingly involved in leftist politics during the war, Rodenko participated in hunger strikes while at the camp and eventually did serve time in prison. Following the war, he utilized his experiences with peace groups and Ghandian non-violence to become a leader in the burgeoning civil rights movement. Rodenko speaks at length about his participation in the Journey of Reconciliation (1947). Already a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Rodenko helped to organize the Journey, an interracial endeavor to test the Supreme Court's ruling in the Irene Morgan case (1946) as it applied to public transportation in the South. Rodenko describes the strategies CORE employed as they tested segregation policies on buses for Trailways and Greyhound. In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Rodenko and fellow activists were arrested for refusing to abide by the bus driver's demand that black and white passengers not sit together. He recalls the threat of mob violence against the activists and the role of Chapel Hill minister Charles Jones in helping them escape town safely. Rodenko and the other CORE activists lost their court appeal and he spent 30 days working on a segregated chain gang in North Carolina. His recollections in this interview help to illuminate activist strategies, interracial cooperation, and reasons for limited success as the civil rights movement began to build momentum in the late 1940s.
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This interview is part of the Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007), a collection of over
4,000 interviews housed at the Southern Historical Collection.
Subjects
Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this title.
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Last updated May 12, 2008