The Northern Student Movement (NSM) was an American civil rights organization founded at Yale University in 1961 by Peter J. Countryman (1942–1992). It grew out of the work of a committee formed by the New England Student Christian Movement.[1]
Countryman began NSM's work by collecting books for a predominantly African American college and raising funds for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He then turned to organizing tutoring programs for inner city youth in northeastern cities. By 1963, NSM was reported to be helping as many as 3,500 children using 2,200 student volunteers from 50 colleges and universities.[2] NSM also encouraged direct-action protests, sending volunteers to sit-ins in the South and organizing rent strikes in the North.[1][3][4]
Originally headquartered in New Haven, Connecticut, NSM moved to New York City.[5] Countryman stepped down as NSM's executive director in 1963 and was replaced by William Strickland.[6]
The records of the Northern Student Movement, including a complete run of its periodical, Freedom North, are on file with the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division of the New York Public Library.[6]
Notes and references
- ^ a b c Nina Mjagkij (ed.), Organizing Black America: An Encyclopedia of African American Associations, New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 2001, pp. 462-463. ISBN 0815323093 In 1967, the New England Christian Student Movement changed its name to the University Christian Movement in New England. [1]
- ^ "Education: Down-to-Earth Idealism," Time, May 17, 1963.
- ^ Mandi Issacs Jackson, "Harlem's Rent Strike and Rat War: Representation, Housing Access and Tenant Resistance in New York, 1958-1964," American Studies, University of Kansas, v. 47, no. 1, (2006) pp. 53-79.
- ^ Jack Newfield, "The Student Left," The Nation, May 10, 1965.
- ^ Abstract: Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) Conference, Raleigh, N.C., 2010
- ^ a b Northern Student Movement Records, 1961-1966, New York Public Library.
External links
- Northern Student Movement: A collection of articles and links to resources that describe the work of a civil rights organization founded by Peter Countryman and others....
- Columbia University Libraries, Columbia Center for Oral History: Oral history interviews about the Northern Student Movement
Recent Comments