Oral history with Roger Barnhill; 1995

Oral history.; Interview conducted November 17, 1995. Roger Barnhill was born to Joe and Lilly Barnhill on November 12, 1940. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he was raised primarily in St. Louis, Missouri. Primed for social justice as a youth who was engaged in Boy Scouts and church groups, Barnhill was affected by the Jackie Robinson controversy. In his final year of college at Michigan State University, Barnhill was courted by SNCC and decided to forsake summer school in order to participate in Freedom Summer. He attended training in Oxford where he learned African American history and strategies to ensure his safety while attempting to register African American voters in the South. Barnhill was assigned to function as a liaison between the community in Moss Point, MS and the Pascagoula, MS sheriff as well as canvassing the area in an attempt to help African Americans register to vote. While in Mississippi, Barnhill witnessed a shooting and was arrested during a demonstration and jailed for several days.

Oral history.; Interview conducted November 17, 1995. Roger Barnhill was born to Joe and Lilly Barnhill on November 12, 1940. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he was raised primarily in St. Louis, Missouri. Primed for social justice as a youth who was engaged in Boy Scouts and church groups, Barnhill was affected by the Jackie Robinson controversy. In his final year of college at Michigan State University, Barnhill was courted by SNCC and decided to forsake summer school in order to participate in Freedom Summer. He attended training in Oxford where he learned African American history and strategies to ensure his safety while attempting to register African American voters in the South. Barnhill was assigned to function as a liaison between the community in Moss Point, MS and the Pascagoula, MS sheriff as well as canvassing the area in an attempt to help African Americans register to vote. While in Mississippi, Barnhill witnessed a shooting and was arrested during a demonstration and jailed for several days.

Oral history.; Interview conducted November 17, 1995. Roger Barnhill was born to Joe and Lilly Barnhill on November 12, 1940. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he was raised primarily in St. Louis, Missouri. Primed for social justice as a youth who was engaged in Boy Scouts and church groups, Barnhill was affected by the Jackie Robinson controversy. In his final year of college at Michigan State University, Barnhill was courted by SNCC and decided to forsake summer school in order to participate in Freedom Summer. He attended training in Oxford where he learned African American history and strategies to ensure his safety while attempting to register African American voters in the South. Barnhill was assigned to function as a liaison between the community in Moss Point, MS and the Pascagoula, MS sheriff as well as canvassing the area in an attempt to help African Americans register to vote. While in Mississippi, Barnhill witnessed a shooting and was arrested during a demonstration and jailed for several days.

Oral history.; Transcript for interview conducted on November 17, 1995 with Mr. Roger Barnhill. He was born on November 12, 1940 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Barnhill was recruited into the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in his senior year at Michigan State University. During the Mississippi Summer Project, he worked as a community liaison with the police department in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Over the summer of 1964, he canvassed voters in Moss Point, Pascagoula, Gulfport, and Biloxi, and he taught African-American history to high school students. Barnhill was arrested for taking part in a mass demonstration. After returning to Michigan State, he graduated and began working in the juvenile court in St. Louis and then at the Missouri State Board of Probation and Parole.

Oral history.; Recording log for interview conducted November 17, 1995. Roger Barnhill was born to Joe and Lilly Barnhill on November 12, 1940. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he was raised primarily in St. Louis, Missouri. Primed for social justice as a youth who was engaged in Boy Scouts and church groups, Barnhill was affected by the Jackie Robinson controversy. In his final year of college at Michigan State University, Barnhill was courted by SNCC and decided to forsake summer school in order to participate in Freedom Summer. He attended training in Oxford where he learned African American history and strategies to ensure his safety while attempting to register African American voters in the South. Barnhill was assigned to function as a liaison between the community in Moss Point, MS and the Pascagoula, MS sheriff as well as canvassing the area in an attempt to help African Americans register to vote. While in Mississippi, Barnhill witnessed a shooting and was arrested during a demonstration and jailed for several days.