Bernard LaFayette, Jr. has been a Civil Rights Movement activist, minister, educator, lecturer, and is an authority on the strategy on nonviolent social change. He was one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960. He was a leader of the Nashville Movement, 1960 and on the Freedom Rides, 1961 and the 1965 Selma Movement. He directed the Alabama Voter Registration Project in 1962, and he was appointed National Program Administrator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and National Coordinator of the 1968 Poor Peoples’ Campaign by Martin Luther King, Jr. In addition, Dr. LaFayette has served as Director of Peace and Justice in Latin America; Chairperson of the Consortium on Peace Research, Education and Development; Director of the PUSH Excel Institute; and minister of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Tuskegee, Alabama.
An ordained minister, Dr. LaFayette earned his B.A. from the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, and his Ed.M. and Ed.D from Harvard University. He has served on the faculties of Auguatana College(Souix Falls, SD), Columbia Theological Seminary (Atlanta, GA) and Alabama State University (Montgomery), where he was Dean of the Graduate School; he also was principal of Tuskegee Institute High School in Tuskegee, Alabama and a teaching fellow at Harvard University.
His publications include the Curriculum and Training Manual for the Martin Luther King, Jr., Nonviolent Community Leadership Training Program, his doctoral thesis, Pedagogy for Peace and Nonviolence, and Campus Ministries and Social Change in the ‘60’s (Duke Divinity Review) and The Leaders Manual: A Structured Guide and Introduction to Kingian Nonviolence with David Jehnsen. Bernard LaFayette has traveled extensively to many countries as a lecturer and consultant on peace and nonviolence.
Dr. LaFayette is a former President of the American Baptist College of ABT Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee; Scholar in Residence at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, Georgia; and Pastor emeritus of the Progressive Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee.
He is the Founder and National President of God-Parents Clubs, Inc., a national community based program aimed at preventing the systematic incarceration of young Black youth; a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and founder of the Association For Kingian Nonviolence, Education and Training Works.
Dr. LaFayette is currently a Distinguished-Scholar-in-Residence and Director of the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at the University of Rhode Island. He is the chairperson for the International Nonviolence Executive Planning Board. He has been re-appointed by Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri as the chairman for the Rhode Island Select Commission on Race and Police-Community Relations. A native of Tampa, Florida, Dr. LaFayette is married to the former Kate Bulls.
Bernard LaFayette Oral History Project, Mss. Gr. 123, University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections.
The records consist of VHS tapes of interviews with Dr. Bernard LaFayette. Transcripts of the interviews accompany the collection in physical and digital copies. An index for the interviews is available in the repository.
After processing, the records were organized into two series.
Open for research.
The tapes and index were transferred to the URI Special Collections Unit by James Findlay in 2004. The index was revised by Findlay in 2006 from the written transcripts.
The tapes and index were kept by Prof. James Findlay, (Emeritus History), until transfer. The transcripts were produced as a separate project and incorporated into the collection in 2006.
The collection was processed by Mark Dionne in 2008. The recordings were filmed and mixed by Timothy Tierney at the URI Media Center from January 2002-January 2003.
Terms governing use and reproduction: Photocopying and scanning of materials is a fee based service available in the repository and is allowed at the discretion of the Archivist when in compliance to the Unit's policy on copyright and publication.
No materials were separated from the collection.
The series contains mini DV digital video cassettes of 15 mixed and 46 unmixed interview recordings. The mixes were transferred to 9 VHS tapes. In 2006, through a URI Foundation grant and funding through the Office of the President, the tapes were converted in house by the archivist into .wmv files.
The series is arranged by year and date of the interview. The original labeling on each recording was maintained. In some cases, the dates were not recorded during the interview or labeled on the physical tape. The date for those interviews is given as the known year of the recording.
Subjects discussed include Dr. LaFayette’s childhood life in Tampa and Philadelphia, his grandmother’s influence on his character and skills, his involvement with the church, racism and religion, civil rights movements, and college life.
Subjects discussed include the Missionary Baptist Church, boycott on white-only employers in Philadelphia, higher education, non-violent protest training and workshops, James Lawson, college sit-in gatherings, and the attack on LaFayette in Nashville, TN.
Subjects discussed include economic boycotts, college sit-in protests, voter registration drives, tent cities, and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Subjects discussed include the strategies and benefits of establishing non-violence centers throughout the world, and the training that takes place within the centers.
Subjects discussed include the Dr. LaFayette’s abduction in Columbia by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) and the political issues associated with that event.
Subjects discussed include the Nashville demonstrations, lunch counter pickets, sit-ins, student activism, time spent in jails, and the freedom rides.
Subjects discussed include time spent in jails, Martin Luther King, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
Subjects discussed include Selma, voter registration drives, non violence principles, and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Subjects discussed include Jesse Jackson, the Chicago Movement, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King, Vietnam War, Poor People's Campaign.
Subjects discussed include Dr. LaFayette’s role in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Also discussed are the events of the Chicago civil rights campaign and protests.
Subjects discussed include Chicago Mayor Daley’s role in the Chicago civil rights campaign. Also discussed are the strategies employed by the civil rights leadership in choosing which areas of the city to protest in.
Subjects discussed include the Poor People’s Campaign and Dr. LaFayette’s appointment by Martin Luther King as National Coordinator of the program. Also discussed are the activities of various leaders from SCLC and issues related to 1967 Atlanta conference.
Subjects discussed include the activities of the Poor People’s Campaign after Martin Luther King’s death and the organization’s work in Washington, D.C. Other topics include Dr. LaFayette’s activities in the Vietnam anti-war movement.
Subjects discussed include Dr. LaFayette’s work with youth gangs in Rochester, New York, his relationship with Martin Luther King, his responsibilities as a leader within the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and as the National Coordinator for the Poor People’s Campaign. Other topics include his post-secondary education, his activities as a peace educator, and leadership trainer.
Subjects include Dr. LaFayette’s role in resolving the St. Louis school strikes in the late seventies and school desegregation.
Subjects discussed include Dr. LaFayette’s experience in the Wounded Knee reservation crisis in 1973 and as a high school principle in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Subjects discussed include Dr. LaFayette’s experience as a high school principle in Tuskegee, Alabama . Also discussed are his experiences as the Vice President for Academic Affairs at American Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee.
The series contains transcripts created from the interviews by Tape Transcription Center, Boston MA in 2006. The transcripts are in both paper and electronic formats. The electronic forms are in MS Word and in PDF. A card file index was prepared by Prof. James Findlay and later revised from the transcripts and the data was entered in an electronic spread sheet, MS Excel.
Arranged chronologically by interview date or session when date is unknown. Card Index is in original file box.