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Oral History Interview with David Burgess, August 12, 1983. Interview F-0006. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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  • Abstract
    Born in New York City and educated at Oberlin College and Union Theological Seminary, David Burgess spent his life living his religious convictions through a devotion to economic and racial justice. In this interview, he recalls his involvement with some vanguard rights organizations, such as the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen, and early rights activists like Buck Kester. Burgess argues that groups like the Fellowship not only helped put the civil rights struggle in a religious context, but set the stage for the dramatic movement that would dominate the South in the 1950s and 1960s. This interview is useful for, among others, students of the early civil rights movement as well as researchers interested in the contribution of white Christian southerners.

    NOTE: Please also refer to another interview with David Burgess in this collection, E-0001. Poor transcription can make this a difficult interview to read. Listening recommended.

    Excerpts
  • Postwar industrialization in the South
  • A limited role for women in the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen
  • Fellowship of Southern Churchmen inspires future activists
  • Explanations for the dissolution of the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen
  • Legacies of the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen
  • Buck Kester, dreamer
  • Learning about the South from books and people
  • Goals of the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen
  • Social justice leaders with flaws
  • Learn More
  • Finding aid to the Southern Oral History Program Collection
  • Database of all Southern Oral History Program Collection interviews
  • Subjects
  • Southern States--Race relations
  • Fellowship of Southern Churchmen
  • Civil rights movements--Southern States
  • The Southern Oral History Program transcripts presented here on Documenting the American South undergo an editorial process to remove transcription errors. Texts may differ from the original transcripts held by the Southern Historical Collection.

    Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this title.