Civil Rights History Project, American, founded 2009 Search this
Interview of:
William S. Leventhal, American, born 1946 Search this
Interviewed by:
David P. Cline Ph. D., American, born 1969 Search this
Subject of:
University of California, Los Angeles, American, founded 1919 Search this
Summer Community Organization and Political Education, American, founded 1965 Search this
Major League Baseball, American, founded 1869 Search this
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., American, 1929 - 1968 Search this
Medium:
digital
Dimensions:
Duration: 3 hr., 2 min., 18 sec.
Total: 302.54 GB
Type:
video recordings
oral histories
digital media - born digital
Place collected:
El Segundo, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
Place depicted:
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
Macon, Bibb County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
Americus, Sumter County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
Date:
April 13, 2013
Description:
The oral history consists of eight digital files: 2011.174.82.1a, 2011.174.82.1b, 2011.174.82.1c, 2011.174.82.1d, 2011.174.82.1e, 2011.174.82.1f, 2011.174.82.1g, and 2011.174.82.1h.
Willy Siegel Leventhal discusses his childhood in California, his experiences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the 1960s, and his involvement in the Summer Community Organization and Political Education Project (SCOPE). Leventhal describes what it was like to be a Jewish child in a mostly Catholic community and how his childhood experiences informed his later activism and identity. Baseball was especially important to him, as he witnessed the first Jewish and African American ballplayers desegregate the Major Leagues. Leventhal became active in SCOPE during his first year at UCLA, after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., visited campus to recruit students. Leventhal describes the SCOPE training in Atlanta, and he shares his memories of living and working in Macon and Americus, Georgia.
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in partnership with the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
