Passion and Purpose

Oral History Collection Unlocked

In Passion and Purpose, historic moments in the ongoing civil rights movement are told through the words and voices of those who lived it. Oral histories and photography connect past to present and provide personal perspectives into historic moments.

MCHC’s oral history collections—newly preserved and digitized through a grant from the Council of Library and Information Resources—are at the heart of the exhibition. Visitors listen to and read excerpts from dozens of oral history conversations with notable civil rights leaders—many recorded more than 40 years ago—including Juanita Jackson Mitchell, Clarence Mitchell Jr., Rep. Parren Mitchell, Gloria Richardson, Rev. Marion C. Bascom, Esther McCready, Walter Sondheim Jr., Silas Craft Sr., Verda Freeman Welcome, and others. Many of these oral histories are part of the McKeldin-Jackson Project oral history collection.

Passion and Purpose also exhibits recent oral histories about the civil rights movement, including a collection created in the 2000s by Baltimore City high school students who conducted research at MCHC and interviewed people involved in the civil rights movement—the Doris M. Jackson Project oral history collection. The students picked up where the earlier oral histories recorded in the 1970s left off, casting a wider view of the continuing struggle for civil rights. The exhibition also shares oral histories recorded during the 2015 Baltimore Uprising.

Passion and Purpose will serve as an educational tool for students, teachers, and the community about civil rights history. It originated from the growing needs of MCHC’s Education Department to aid teachers and students across Maryland to address civil rights topics in the classroom. Learn about onsite school tours here.