LHS Monthly Meeting: A Year Volunteering in the Segregated South
December 11 @ 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM EST
Retired United States Magistrate Judge Joel Rosen will talk about his experiences as a VISTA volunteer in Alabama during the Civil Rights era and parallels to current times at the Lawnside Historical Society’s monthly meeting on Thursday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. via Zoom.
As a college junior, Joel Rosen decided to leave Colgate University and join a program created by President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. From upstate New York, the Connecticut native spent a month training in Atlanta then on to his assignment in Huntsville as the first from VISTA (Volunteers In Service to America) in the state.
The focus was on addressing poverty but he and partner Joe Murphy “stretched” what they were supposed to do, he said. From working on co-ops for food and coal, to voter registration and school desegregation, to helping household maids advocate for fair wages in a group called Sisters of Concern. They also managed to attend marches and demonstrations. But voter registration was the tough part with local people bearing the brunt, risk and consequences.
Judge Rosen emphasizes repeatedly that he and others took their lead from the local people they were working with. They were led and guided by the sharecroppers and others. The point was not just helping with financial needs but helping the people access power.
He will be joined in conversation by Stanley King, an award-winning civil rights attorney, who specializes in police misconduct and federal criminal defense cases.
Attendance is free but registration is required.
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