Lecture 12. Depression and Double V (continued)

American History: From Emancipation to the Present (AFAM 162)

In this lecture, Professor Holloway continues discussing African American political possibilities in the second half of the 1930s by examining the new mentality at work in black America. He focuses on the National Negro Congress, the Marian Anderson Easter Sunday Concert, and the March on Washington movement. These examples reveal the diverse strategies and organizing methods employed during this era, as the federal government learned that it could not afford to ignore black leaders the way it had since the founding of the Republic. Professor Holloway also examines the radical possibilities of this decade, as black Communists and Socialists advanced democratic visions for the country. For a brief moment, these ideas appeared to have traction. Yet as the Cold War marched on, charges of communism would decimate some African American civil rights groups.

00:00 - Chapter 1. The National Negro Congress
16:06 - Chapter 2. The Marian Anderson Easter Sunday Concert
33:38 - Chapter 3. A. Philip Randolph and the March on Washington Movement

Complete course materials are available at the Yale Online website: online.yale.edu


This course was recorded in Spring 2010.