Spell freedom : the underground schools that built the civil rights movement / Elaine Weiss.
"In the summer of 1954, educator Septima Clark and small businessman Esau Jenkins travelled to rural Tennessee's Highlander Folk School, an interracial training center for social change founded by Myles Horton, a white southerner with roots in the labor movement. There, the trio united behind a shared mission: preparing Black southerners to pass the daunting Jim Crow era voter registration literacy tests that were designed to disenfranchise them. Together with beautician-turned-teacher Bernice Robinson, they launched the underground Citizenship Schools project, which began with a single makeshift classroom hidden in the back of a rural grocery store. By the time the Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965, the secretive undertaking had established more than nine hundred citizenship schools across the South, preparing tens of thousands of Black citizens to read and write, demand their rights--and vote. Simultaneously, it nurtured a generation of activists--many of them women--trained in community organizing, political citizenship, and tactics of resistance and struggle who became the grassroots foundation of the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King called Septima Clark, 'Mother of the Movement.' In the vein of Hidden Figures and Devil in the Grove, Spell Freedom is both a riveting, crucially important lens onto our past, and a deeply moving story for our present."-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781668002698
- ISBN: 1668002698
- Physical Description: vi, 377 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Edition: First One Signal Publishers/Atria Books hardcover edition.
- Publisher: New York, New York : One Signal Publishers/Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, 2025.
- Copyright: ©2025
Content descriptions
- Bibliography, etc. Note:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 321-367) and index.
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Available copies
- 24 of 24 copies available at NC Cardinal.
- 1 of 1 copy available at McDowell County Public Library. (Show)
Holds
- 0 current holds with 24 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marion Library | 324.62 WEI (Text) | 37810435832547 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Black Mountain Library | 324.6208996 WEI (Text) | 0020660445824 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Bordeaux Library | 324.6208 WEI (Text) | 31781069078721 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| C.B. Hildebrand Public Library | 324.6 WEI (Text) | 33557004707667 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Cleveland County Main Library | 324.62 WEI (Text) | 22281500161117 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Cumberland Headquarters | 324.6208 WEI (Text) | 31781069078747 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Goldsboro Library | 324.62 WEI (Text) | 900005000280172 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| High Point Library | 324.6208 Weiss (Text) | 30519020396365 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library | 324.62 W (Text) | 39149008450348 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Lee County Main Library | 324.62 WEISS (Text) | 33262003287867 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Accessibility Features
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|---|---|---|---|
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| 003 | CARDINAL | ||
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| 035 | . | ‡a(OCoLC)1500641728 | |
| 020 | . | ‡a9781668002698 ‡q(hardcover) | |
| 020 | . | ‡a1668002698 ‡q(hardcover) | |
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| 082 | 0 | 4. | ‡a324.6/208996073075 ‡223 |
| 100 | 1 | . | ‡aWeiss, Elaine F., ‡d1952- ‡eauthor. ‡0(CARDINAL)351891 |
| 245 | 1 | 0. | ‡aSpell freedom : ‡bthe underground schools that built the civil rights movement / ‡cElaine Weiss. |
| 250 | . | ‡aFirst One Signal Publishers/Atria Books hardcover edition. | |
| 264 | 1. | ‡aNew York, New York : ‡bOne Signal Publishers/Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, ‡c2025. | |
| 264 | 4. | ‡c©2025 | |
| 300 | . | ‡avi, 377 pages : ‡billustrations ; ‡c24 cm | |
| 336 | . | ‡astill image ‡bsti ‡2rdacontent | |
| 336 | . | ‡atext ‡btxt ‡2rdacontent | |
| 337 | . | ‡aunmediated ‡bn ‡2rdamedia | |
| 338 | . | ‡avolume ‡bnc ‡2rdacarrier | |
| 504 | . | ‡aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 321-367) and index. | |
| 520 | . | ‡a"In the summer of 1954, educator Septima Clark and small businessman Esau Jenkins travelled to rural Tennessee's Highlander Folk School, an interracial training center for social change founded by Myles Horton, a white southerner with roots in the labor movement. There, the trio united behind a shared mission: preparing Black southerners to pass the daunting Jim Crow era voter registration literacy tests that were designed to disenfranchise them. Together with beautician-turned-teacher Bernice Robinson, they launched the underground Citizenship Schools project, which began with a single makeshift classroom hidden in the back of a rural grocery store. By the time the Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965, the secretive undertaking had established more than nine hundred citizenship schools across the South, preparing tens of thousands of Black citizens to read and write, demand their rights--and vote. Simultaneously, it nurtured a generation of activists--many of them women--trained in community organizing, political citizenship, and tactics of resistance and struggle who became the grassroots foundation of the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King called Septima Clark, 'Mother of the Movement.' In the vein of Hidden Figures and Devil in the Grove, Spell Freedom is both a riveting, crucially important lens onto our past, and a deeply moving story for our present."-- ‡cProvided by publisher. | |
| 650 | 0. | ‡aAfrican Americans ‡xEducation ‡zSouthern States ‡xHistory ‡y20th century. | |
| 650 | 0. | ‡aAfrican Americans ‡xSuffrage ‡zSouthern States ‡xHistory ‡y20th century. | |
| 650 | 0. | ‡aLiteracy tests (Election law) ‡zSouthern States ‡xHistory ‡y20th century. | |
| 650 | 0. | ‡aCivil rights movements ‡zUnited States ‡xHistory ‡y20th century. ‡0(CARDINAL)291868 | |
| 901 | . | ‡a14764767 ‡bOCoLC ‡c14764767 ‡tbiblio ‡sSystem Local | |
