Burroughs, Ericka Lynise 1996 - Robert William Saunders and a Memoir of the Civil Rights Movement in Florida.

Abstract: The Civil Rights Movement will be remembered as the greatest grassroots movement in United States history. Participants in the movement transcended the boundaries of race, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, and educational status. Historians have produced a plethora of literature on the civil rights movement, but there exist fewer works by the people who were actually responsible for the movement. Robert Saunders, who served as Florida's field secretary for the NAACP during the pivotal years of the civil rights movement, has embarked on a memoir documenting his experiences in the segregated South, in the NAACP and as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. In addition to describing his own work and accomplishments, Mr. Saunders acknowledges civil rights activists whose contributions to the Florida movement would otherwise remain unknown because of their marginal status in society. When I read Mr. Saunders' memoir, I immediately recognized the value in his work. Not only did the memoir document significant moments in history, but it offered Mr. Saunders' unique perspective on these special moments. Thus, when Mr. Saunders asked me to assist him in editing his memoir for possible publication, I readily agreed to offer my advice. Eventually, my role expanded into one of major editing and revisions of the manuscript. My thesis documents my relationship with Mr. Saunders as well as our combined effort to develop an effective memoir. I also briefly describe the NAACP's role in the Civil Rights Movement, and compare the organization's endeavors with those of the SCLC, CORE, and SNCC. Moreover, I will consider how an applied anthropologist can assist people in preserving their own history. Finally, I present the memoir. The memoir is still incomplete, because Mr. Saunders had added four more chapters that he wrote independently of my collaboration and I agreed that he would author the conclusion solely. Even so, it demonstrates how an applied anthropologist can effectively assist in the preservation of significant social historical resources.