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Student Produced Documentary: The Voting Rights Struggle — SNCC Meets McComb, Miss.

April 21, 2013 by Admin in Uncategorized

Students in McComb. Miss. researched and produced a mini-documentary about the history of the struggle for voting rights in their town. With the key role of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in McComb, their home town played a central role in this country’s civil rights movement history.

The students are part of a group based at the McComb School District called McComb Legacies, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. There are numerous stories on this blog about the production of the film, including (1) the summer institute where twelve students spent a week uncovering the hidden past of the voter registration movement in Pike and Amite Counties, including a visit to the farm of Herbert Lee; (2) convening after school twice a week to deepen their understanding of the history and identify the key turning point in history, (3) consulting with noted historians; (4) winning first prize for group documentary at the Mississippi History Day competition and the Mississippi Historical Society award of merit; and (5) convening a student-led conference on voting rights to learn from movement veterans and introduce the history to their peers.

Here is the film. It has been edited constantly over the past few months and will continue to be edited in advance of the National History Day competition in June.

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