Ellen Lake Freedom Summer Collection
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of photocopies of materials collected by Ellen Lake relating to the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project. The originals are housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Ellen Lake's mother, Alice Lake, received an assignment to write an article for Redbook about the Project. The article "Last Summer in Mississippi" appeared in the November 1964 edition and describes Kay Prickett, a Freedom Summer volunteer in Madison County, Mississippi.
Dates
- circa June-October 1964
Creator
- Lake, Ellen, 1944- (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Noncirculating; available for research.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).
Biographical / Historical
Ellen Lake was born in New York City, New York on November 11, 1944 to Leonard and Alice Lake. Lake attended Harrison Avenue Elementary School and in 1962 graduated from Harrison High School. Lake graduated from Radcliffe College/Harvard University in 1966 and received her JD in 1970 from Case Western Reserve University. In 1984 Lake married William G. Hoerger. They have two children, Rachel and Joshua Hoerger.
During the summer of 1964, Ellen Lake worked with the voter registration project in Gulfport, Mississippi as a Mississippi Freedom Summer Project volunteer. In preparation for the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, Lake attended an orientation session at Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio.
Ellen Lake was a co-founder, editor, and reporter for The Southern Courier, a weekly Alabama newspaper begun in 1965. The paper covered news of civil rights and the African-American community in Alabama -- the only paper to do so at that time. The paper lasted about three years.
Currently, Lake lives in Oakland, California where she practices law. Her law practice is devoted to employment discrimination, wrongful termination, and personal injury cases in the appellate courts.
Extent
.10 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Photocopies of correspondence, a magazine article, Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) materials, and other items that document the activities of Mississippi Freedom Summer volunteer, Ellen Lake, in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Provenance
Materials in this collection were donated by Ellen Lake on July 24, 2003.
- Civil rights workers -- Mississippi. Subject Source: Local sources
- Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.). Subject Source: TGM II, Genre and physical characteristic terms
- Council of Federated Organizations (U.S.). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Letter. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Madison County (Miss.). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Mississippi Freedom Project. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Records (Documents). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Records (Documents). Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Ellen Lake Freedom Summer Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Historical Manuscripts and Photographs Repository
118 College Drive - 5148
Hattiesburg MS 39406-0001
601.266.4345
