SSOC Programs
"See, the history of SSOC is never going to be recaptured. . . . [T]he papers were burned, and . . . I think the papers would have documented all this stuff. . . . I’ve never liked the fact that there’s not anarchive of this organization I spent a lot of time working for."
—Sue Thrasher
Speaker Program
This was the SSOC’s project to bring men and women, competent in the fields of southern history and politics, university reform, labor, education, foreign policy and art to southern campuses. The SSOC hoped to inject pertinent issues of change onto these campuses.
Community Projects
SSOC members worked actively in various forms of community organizing projects involving tutoring, protests over inadequate housing, voter registration, etc. Organizationally SSOC helped to raise money for projects, as well as provide a staff. The SSOC viewed community organizing as a means by which people may exert increasing control over the political and economic issues which affect their lives.
Students and Labor
SSOC initiated a program to relate student activities to forward looking trends in southern labor movement. During the summer of 1966, SSOC jointly sponsored students, with the Industrial Union Department of the AFL-CIO, to organize migrant workers. Several SSOC staff members are worked in North Carolina on a similar project.
Folk Tour
The SSOC-sponsored Southern Folk Festival annually held concerts and workshops on campuses throughout the South. Through the medium of music, the troupe, made up largely of southern folk musicians, was able to relate the richness of the cultural heritage of black and white southerners.
Monthly Newsletter
With the help of the New South Student, the SSOC’s monthly publication, the organization was able to bring to southern students news of the civil rights, peace movements, and other student movements through feature articles, as well as book and literature reviews. At the time, subscriptions were $3 a year.
Campus Traveling
A SSOC traveler was able to communicate what other students are doing, strengthen ties between campuses and communities, offered a variety of programming ideas, distributed literature and organized more specific programs such as conferences and speaker programs. Travelers also helped organize SSOC chapters across the South.
To view a 1965 document detailing SSOC programs, visit this site:
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/ssoc/ssoc1965.pdf
