Monte Wasch Oral History
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Monte Wasch Oral History
Videotaped oral history interview with Monte Wasch. A 1960 Kennedy campaign volunteer and early civil rights activist, Wasch worked with the New York office of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He attended and organized busses for the 1963 March on Washington. Wasch was later an anti-war and labor activist, and he visited the Resurrection City encampment in Washington, D.C. during the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign. Interview conducted over Zoom on August 31, 2022 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is forty-seven minutes long.
Monte Wasch Oral History
08/31/2022
Interviews
Oral histories
1960 presidential election
Presidential campaign
Kennedy supporter
Volunteers
Civil rights
March on Washington
Protests
Poor People's Campaign
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Washington, D.C.
New York
1960 Campaign (OHC)
Civil Rights and Social Activism (OHC)
Dallas and 1960s History and Culture (OHC)
Born digital (.m4a file), Born digital (.mp4 file), Born digital (.vtt file)
Duration: 47 Minutes
Oral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2022.001.0062
As described by Monte Wasch in this oral history, the New York arm of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference actually began in 1960 as the awkwardly-named Committee to Defend Martin Luther King and the Struggle for Freedom in the South. In February 1960, after an Alabama grand jury issued a warrant for Dr. King's arrest on two counts of felony perjury for signing fraudulent tax returns, a group of King supporters - including entertainer Harry Belafonte - met in New York City and formed the Committee in order to raise funds for King's legal defense as well as other civil rights initiatives. The Committee placed a full-page advertisement in the New York Times in March 1960 and launched a fundraising campaign aimed at raising $200,000. Eighty-four supporters signed the ad, including former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson. Alabama officials were so upset by statements in the advertisement that a Montgomery city commissioner sued the New York Times (and four Alabama ministers named in the ad) for libel. An Alabama jury agreed, and the ruling against the defendants was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Alabama. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision in a landmark 1964 ruling that confirmed the freedom of the press, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator
Monte Wasch Oral History
Videotaped oral history interview with Monte Wasch. A 1960 Kennedy campaign volunteer and early civil rights activist, Wasch worked with the New York office of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He attended and organized busses for the 1963 March on Washington. Wasch was later an anti-war and labor activist, and he visited the Resurrection City encampment in Washington, D.C. during the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign. Interview conducted over Zoom on August 31, 2022 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is forty-seven minutes long.
Monte Wasch Oral History
08/31/2022
Interviews
Oral histories
1960 presidential election
Presidential campaign
Kennedy supporter
Volunteers
Civil rights
March on Washington
Protests
Poor People's Campaign
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Washington, D.C.
New York
1960 Campaign (OHC)
Civil Rights and Social Activism (OHC)
Dallas and 1960s History and Culture (OHC)
Born digital (.m4a file), Born digital (.mp4 file), Born digital (.vtt file)
Duration: 47 Minutes
Oral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2022.001.0062
As described by Monte Wasch in this oral history, the New York arm of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference actually began in 1960 as the awkwardly-named Committee to Defend Martin Luther King and the Struggle for Freedom in the South. In February 1960, after an Alabama grand jury issued a warrant for Dr. King's arrest on two counts of felony perjury for signing fraudulent tax returns, a group of King supporters - including entertainer Harry Belafonte - met in New York City and formed the Committee in order to raise funds for King's legal defense as well as other civil rights initiatives. The Committee placed a full-page advertisement in the New York Times in March 1960 and launched a fundraising campaign aimed at raising $200,000. Eighty-four supporters signed the ad, including former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson. Alabama officials were so upset by statements in the advertisement that a Montgomery city commissioner sued the New York Times (and four Alabama ministers named in the ad) for libel. An Alabama jury agreed, and the ruling against the defendants was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Alabama. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision in a landmark 1964 ruling that confirmed the freedom of the press, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator
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