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BCRI_Fitts.flv
BCRI_Fitts_x264.mp4
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This podcast is part of the series: BCRI Oral History

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

School/Organization:

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

Overview:

Dr. Elizabeth Hayes Fitts was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1943, but grew up in Birmingham.  After graduation from Ullman High School, Fitts entered Miles College in Birmingham, where she became involved in the Civil Rights Movement.  In fact, she became so involved that she left school for a time to join the staff of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), helping to organize voter registration in Southeastern states.   Fitts returned to college at Tuskegee, where she remained actively involved in the movement.  Now a professor at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Dr. Fitts speaks publicly about her activism, particularly about being jailed as a college student in Birmingham in 1963.
 
Listen to Elizabeth Fitts explain how she and other Miles College students organized and carried out a local economic boycott known as the "Selective Buying Campaign" in Birmingham.

Length: 02:14

Content Areas: Social Studies

Alabama Course of Study Alignments and/or Professional Development Standard Alignments:

[T1] ALS (4) 14: Describe the social, political, and economic impact of the modern Civil Rights Movement on Alabama.
[T1] US4 (6) 13: Describe the role of major civil rights leaders and significant events occurring during the modern Civil Rights Movement.
[T1] UH4 (11) 12: Trace events of the modern Civil Rights Movement from post-World War II to 1970 that resulted in social and economic changes, including the Montgomery bus boycott, the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School, the march on Washington, and the Freedom Rides.