Bob Zellner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bob Zellner
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Zellner interviewed by Green Left in 2021
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| Born | April 5, 1939 Jay, Florida, U.S.
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| Education | Huntingdon College (B.A., 1961) Tulane University (PhD, 1993) |
| Known for | Civil rights activism |
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John Robert Zellner (born April 5, 1939) is an American civil rights activist. He is known for his brave work fighting for equality and justice for all people. He became a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1961. This made him SNCC's first white field secretary, working directly on the ground for change.
Zellner took part in many important civil rights actions. These included workshops on nonviolence and protests for integration. He also helped organize Freedom Schools in Mississippi. These schools taught Black students about their rights. He even helped investigate the terrible murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.
Zellner was arrested and hurt many times because of his activism. He left SNCC in 1966 but kept fighting for civil rights. Later, he taught about the civil rights movement at Long Island University. He also wrote a book about his experiences. This book was made into a movie called Son of the South in 2020. Zellner continued his activism, even being arrested in 2013 for protesting a voter ID law.
Early Life and His Path to Activism
John Robert Zellner was born on April 5, 1939, in Jay, Florida. His father was a minister who believed in supporting the civil rights movement. This was unusual for many preachers in the South at that time. His father's views on integration meant many churches would not let him preach.
Zellner went to Huntingdon College, which was an all-white school. As a senior, he studied ways to solve racial problems in the South. For his school project, he and his friends wanted to interview civil rights leaders. They met with important figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and E. D. Nixon. These meetings sparked Zellner's deep interest in the civil rights movement.
However, the white community did not approve of his actions. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) even burned crosses outside his dorm. The school suggested he be expelled. Despite these challenges, Zellner's commitment grew stronger. He helped Freedom Riders who were attacked in May 1961. He graduated from Huntingdon later that year.
Through his meetings, Zellner learned about the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). This was a student-led group fighting for civil rights. In September 1961, he was hired to reach out to white people. He became SNCC's first white field secretary. For his first year, he was the only white person in this role.
Fighting for Change
As a civil rights activist, Zellner faced many dangers. He was beaten unconscious several times for his beliefs. These attacks caused lasting injuries. For example, he was badly beaten after protesting the murder of Herbert Lee. Police officers and FBI agents watched without helping him.
Zellner was arrested many times for his activism. In December 1961, he was arrested during the Albany Movement. He sat in an integrated group on a train, which was against the rules at the time. Hundreds of people protested his arrest.
In 1962, Zellner was arrested again in Louisiana. He was held for a month. He was arrested another time in 1963 at Huntingdon College. He was accused of vagrancy, but he was found innocent.
After the Children's March in Birmingham, Alabama, turned violent in 1963, Zellner went to the city to help. He also attended the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
Zellner helped with nonviolence workshops at Talladega College. He also joined protests for integration in Danville, Virginia. In 1964, during the Freedom Summer, he helped organize Freedom Schools in Greenwood, Mississippi. These schools taught Black children about their history and rights. During this time, he became close friends with Stokely Carmichael. He also helped investigate the terrible murders of three civil rights workers: James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.
Zellner left SNCC in 1966 when the group decided to remove all white members. He then joined the Southern Conference Educational Fund. He continued his work, moving to the Gulf Coast with his wife, Dorothy Zellner. They started a group called Grass-Roots Organizing Workers (GROW). This group helped pulpwood workers fight for better wages. A strike they organized in 1971 was successful after three months.
Zellner was arrested many times during the civil rights movement. One report says he was arrested 25 times by the summer of 1963. In the 1970s, he gave lectures at the National Institute for Minorities in China.
From 1991 to 1993, he studied history at Tulane University. That year, he began teaching about the civil rights movement at Long Island University. In 2008, Zellner published his memoir, Wrong Side of Murder Creek: A White Southerner in the Freedom Movement. After moving to Wilson, North Carolina, Zellner was arrested in 2013 for protesting a voter ID law. This shows his lifelong commitment to fighting for justice.
His Impact
Bob Zellner's story is shared in the 2006 book Generation on Fire: Voices of Protest from the 1960s. He once said that his time with SNCC was "the greatest thing that ever happened in my life."
His memoir, The Wrong Side of Murder Creek, was published in 2011. This book inspired the 2020 film Son of the South. The movie tells the story of his early life and his brave involvement in the civil rights movement.
Personal Life
Zellner has been married twice. His first marriage was to Dorothy Zellner, starting in 1963. He later married Linda Miller.
