The Civil Rights Movement Archive (CRMA) refers to both an online collection of materials about the

American civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...

of the

1950s The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the " '50s") (among other variants) was a decade that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959. Throughout the decade, the world continued its re ...

and

1960s File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz ...

(also known as the "Freedom Movement"), as well as the organization that created and maintains it. The collection provided by the CRMA includes materials from many parts of the civil rights movement, and "tells the history of the movement from the perspective of those who were there," an "up-from-below" and "inside-out" approach to history. The group behind the archive originally referred to themselves as the "Civil Rights Movement Veterans", but in 2020 changed their name to the "Civil Rights Movement Archive" and applied to be a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The organization now refers to itself as "CRMA" rather than "CRMVet". but the website can still can be found at "crmvet.org". Material from the CRMVet.org website has been cited in the past by ''The New York Times'' and other reputable publications.

History

The CRMA was founded in 1999 as the "Civil Rights Movement Veterans Website" (known colloquially as "CRMVet"). At that time its primary purpose was to reconnect former movement activists with each other. To preserve movement-related memories and stories, CRMVet began collecting and making available narratives and interviews, original documents, speeches, photos, articles, and other material created by movement activists. The archive evolved into an information resource for students, academics, authors, documentarians, and researchers. In recognition of its education and research role, CRMA has been added to the ''African American Civil Rights Network'' of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

. In 2019, CRMVet changed its name to "Civil Rights Movement Archive" and in 2020 it incorporated as a California non-profit. It has also applied to become a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. In 2022 the CRMA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with uke University Librariesdesignating them as the stewards who will preserve and sustain the CRMA when the current managers are no longer able to carry the work forward.

Today

As of January 2023, the archive contains PDF-format scans and transcripts (PDF and HTML) of original materials from the era. It also provides photos and art work; stories,

oral histories Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

and commentaries by movement participants; contact information for speakers; and reference material. All of the archive's substantive content was created by participants and activists of the American civil rights movement in the

and

. The archive is a primary source for pictures, events, documents, people, poetry, oral histories, commentaries and largely forgotten stories about the civil rights movement. Many teachers use the archive as a resource. According to its founder, more than 279,000 people visited the CRMA website in 2022. As of the end of 2022, the archive holdings included: * 894 veteran stories, narratives, and oral histories * 2000+ movement photos and art works * 5092 original movement documents * 1251 original letters and reports * 538 original articles and speeches by movement veterans * 289 history articles written by participants * 331 commentaries on the movement and current events * 71 transcribed discussions and panel presentations * 234 movement-related poems * A bibliography listing 706 books about the movement * 1558 links, to other movement-related websites and pages * Contact information for 683 movement veterans The Civil Rights Movement Archive is funded by small donations from civil rights movement veterans and website users.

Affiliations

During the 1960s, many people affiliated with the CRMA were involved with the

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segrega ...

(SNCC), the

Congress of Racial Equality The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African Americans, African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission ...

(CORE), and the

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civi ...

(SCLC). In the current era, the CRMA works in partnership with the "SNCC Legacy Project" and other organizations to preserve the history of the Southern Freedom Movement.

References

External links

* Civil Rights Movement Archive: https://crmvet.org {{Civil rights movement Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee African Americans' rights organizations Civil rights movement History of African-American civil rights

History

Today

Affiliations

See also

References

External links