Dorie Ladner
Civil rights activist Dorie Ann Ladner was born on June 28, 1942, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. As an adolescent, she became involved in the NAACP Youth Chapter where Clyde Kennard served as advisor. Ladner got involved in the Civil Rights Movement and wanted to be an activist after hearing about the murder of Emmitt Till. After graduating from Earl Travillion High School as salutatorian, alongside her sister, Joyce Ladner, she went on to enroll at Jackson State University. Dedicated to the fight for civil rights, during their freshmen year at Jackson State, she and her sister attended state NAACP meetings with Medgar Evers and Eileen Beard. That same year, Ladner was expelled from Jackson State for participating in a protest against the jailing of nine students from Tougaloo College.
In 1961, Ladner enrolled at Tougaloo College where she became engaged with the Freedom Riders. During the early 1960s, racial hostilities in the South caused Ladner to drop out of school three times to join the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In 1962, she was arrested along with Charles Bracey, a Tougaloo College student, for attempting to integrate the Woolworth’s lunch counter. She joined with SNCC Project Director Robert Moses and others from SNCC and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to register disenfranchised black voters and integrate public accommodations. Ladner’s civil rights work was exemplified when she became one of the founding members of the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) in Clarksdale, Mississippi, which included: NAACP, CORE, SNCC, and SCLC.
Then, in 1964, Ladner became a key organizer in the Freedom Summer Project sponsored by the COFO. Throughout her years of working with SNCC, she served on the front line of the Civil Rights Movement in various capacities. She participated in every civil rights march from 1963 to 1968 including the March on Washington in 1963, the Selma to Montgomery March of 1965 and the Poor People’s March in 1968. She was the SNCC project director in Natchez, Mississippi, from 1964 to 1966, and lectured at universities, churches, and other institutions to raise money for the organization. In addition, Ladner was a supporter of the Anti-Vietnam War Movement and worked in the presidential campaigns of Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern. She went on to serve as a community organizer for the Anti Poverty Program in St. Louis, Missouri, and was an advocate for civil rights in housing and employment. Ladner has also worked for the Martin Luther King Library Documentation Center to help collect the history of people who were participants in the Civil Rights Movement.
In 1973, after her marriage and the birth of her only child, Yodit, Ladner earned her B.A. degree from Tougaloo College. In 1974, she moved to Washington, D.C., and enrolled at the Howard University School of Social Work where she earned her MSW degree in 1975. Ladner has served as a clinical social worker in both the Washington, D.C. General Emergency Room and Psychiatry Department for thirty years. Since her retirement, she has continued her work as a social activist by participating in genealogical research, public speaking, anti-war activities (marches against the war in Iraq), and volunteering in the presidential campaign of Barack Obama.
A2008.079
Female
5/2/2008
7/24/2008
Ladner
Earl Travillion High School
Jackson State University
Tougaloo College
De Priest School
Howard University
Dorie
Hattiesburg
LAD03
Spring, Winter
Mississippi
Freedom Is A Constant Struggle.
District of Columbia
6/28/1942
Washington
USA
Southern Food, Brownies
Civil rights activist and city social service worker Dorie Ladner (1942 - ) is a founding member of the Council of Federated Organizations, and participated in the March on Washington, the Selma to Montgomery March, and the Poor People's March. She was the SNCC project director in Natchez, Mississippi, and a clinical social worker in the Washington, D.C. General Emergency Room and Psychiatry Department.
Bright Colors
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618518">Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Dorie Ladner's interview, session 1</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618519">Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Dorie Ladner lists her favorites</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618520">Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Dorie Ladner describes her mother's family background, pt. 1</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618521">Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Dorie Ladner describes her mother's family background, pt. 2</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618522">Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Dorie Ladner talks about her maternal grandfather and great-grandfather</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618523">Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Dorie Ladner describes her mother's upbringing</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618524">Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Dorie Ladner talks about race relations in the South</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618525">Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Dorie Ladner describes her father's family background</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618526">Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Dorie Ladner talks about the economic opportunities in Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618527">Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Dorie Ladner describes her paternal grandfather's family background</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618528">Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Dorie Ladner talks about her French ancestry</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618529">Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Dorie Ladner talks about her paternal grandfather's death</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618530">Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Dorie Ladner talks about her relation to Thomas Ladnier</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618531">Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Dorie Ladner describes her father and his siblings</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618532">Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Dorie Ladner recalls her decision to stop her genealogical research</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618533">Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Dorie Ladner describes her father</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618534">Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Dorie Ladner describes her likeness to her parents</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618535">Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Dorie Ladner describes her earliest childhood memory</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618536">Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Dorie Ladner remembers the community of Palmer's Crossing, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618537">Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Dorie Ladner describes the sights, sounds and smell of her childhood</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618538">Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Dorie Ladner describes her schooling in Hattiesburg, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618539">Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Dorie Ladner remembers the murder of Emmett Till</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618540">Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Dorie Ladner recalls her early exposure to African American publications</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618541">Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Dorie Ladner remembers the lynchings in Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618542">Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Dorie Ladner describes the economy in Hattiesburg, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618543">Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Dorie Ladner describes her education at the De Priest School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618544">Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Dorie Ladner remembers joining the NAACP</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618545">Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Dorie Ladner recalls matriculating at Jackson State College in Jackson, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618546">Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Dorie Ladner remembers meeting with Medgar Evers</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618547">Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Dorie Ladner recalls her experiences at Jackson State College in Jackson, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618548">Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Dorie Ladner describes the history of Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618549">Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Dorie Ladner remembers demonstrating with Tougaloo College students</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618550">Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Dorie Ladner recalls transferring to Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618551">Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Dorie Ladner describes the figures in Mississippi's Civil Rights Movement</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618552">Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Dorie Ladner remembers travelling through the Mississippi Delta</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618553">Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Dorie Ladner remembers meeting Fannie Lou Hamer</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618554">Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Dorie Ladner reflects upon the success of the Civil Rights Movement in rural Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618555">Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Dorie Ladner describes the violence against civil rights organizers</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618556">Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Dorie Ladner remembers Robert Parris Moses</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618557">Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Dorie Ladner recalls joining the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618558">Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Dorie Ladner remembers the imprisonment of Clyde Kennard</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618559">Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Dorie Ladner recalls Clyde Kennard's release from prison</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618560">Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Dorie Ladner describes the summer of 1963</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618561">Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Dorie Ladner remembers the murder of Medgar Evers</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618562">Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Dorie Ladner talks about the African American legislators during Reconstruction</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618563">Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Dorie Ladner remembers Medgar Evers' funeral</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618564">Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Dorie Ladner recalls being jailed after Medgar Evers' funeral</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618565">Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Dorie Ladner describes the trial of Medgar Evers' murderer</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618566">Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Dorie Ladner recalls being accosted at a bus station by racist whites</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618567">Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Dorie Ladner recalls the funeral of the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618568">Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Dorie Ladner recalls working with SNCC in Natchez, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618569">Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Dorie Ladner recalls the attempted bombing of the SNCC office in Natchez, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618570">Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Dorie Ladner narrates her photographs, pt. 1</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618571">Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Dorie Ladner narrates her photographs, pt. 2</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618572">Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Dorie Ladner narrates her photographs, pt. 3</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618573">Tape: 8 Story: 1 - Dorie Ladner narrates her photographs, pt. 4</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618574">Tape: 8 Story: 2 - Dorie Ladner recalls the murders of Herbert Lee and Lewis Allen</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618575">Tape: 8 Story: 3 - Dorie Ladner recalls the decision to recruit northern civil rights workers</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618576">Tape: 8 Story: 4 - Dorie Ladner describes the early membership of SNCC</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618577">Tape: 8 Story: 5 - Dorie Ladner remembers SNCC's recruitment at northern colleges</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618578">Tape: 8 Story: 6 - Dorie Ladner recalls the federal government's opposition to SNCC</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618579">Tape: 8 Story: 7 - Dorie Ladner remembers SNCC's nonviolent action training program</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618580">Tape: 8 Story: 8 - Dorie Ladner remembers the Freedom Summer murders</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618581">Tape: 9 Story: 1 - Dorie Ladner describes the SNCC training program in Oxford, Ohio</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618582">Tape: 9 Story: 2 - Dorie Ladner recalls the mission of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618583">Tape: 9 Story: 3 - Dorie Ladner talks about her civil rights work in Natchez, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618584">Tape: 9 Story: 4 - Dorie Ladner recalls the collaboration between SNCC and the U.S. Department of Justice</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618585">Tape: 9 Story: 5 - Dorie Ladner remembers transporting SNCC volunteers to Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618586">Tape: 9 Story: 6 - Dorie Ladner recalls establishing a Freedom House in Natchez, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618587">Tape: 9 Story: 7 - Dorie Ladner talks about race relations in Natchez, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618588">Tape: 9 Story: 8 - Dorie Ladner describes the attitudes towards outsiders in Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618589">Tape: 10 Story: 1 - Dorie Ladner describes her daily activities as a civil rights organizer in Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618590">Tape: 10 Story: 2 - Dorie Ladner remembers developing trust with the black community in Natchez, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618591">Tape: 10 Story: 3 - Dorie Ladner describes the white reactions to civil rights workers in Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618592">Tape: 10 Story: 4 - Dorie Ladner describes the violations of her First Amendment rights</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618593">Tape: 10 Story: 5 - Dorie Ladner talks about the importance of her roots in Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618594">Tape: 10 Story: 6 - Dorie Ladner talks about SNCC's black northern membership</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618595">Tape: 10 Story: 7 - Dorie Ladner describes the backgrounds of the members of SNCC</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618596">Tape: 10 Story: 8 - Dorie Ladner talks about the role of white women in SNCC</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618597">Tape: 11 Story: 1 - Dorie Ladner recalls the founding of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618598">Tape: 11 Story: 2 - Dorie Ladner recalls the federal response to the Freedom Summer murders</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618599">Tape: 11 Story: 3 - Dorie Ladner describes the objectives of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618600">Tape: 11 Story: 4 - Dorie Ladner describes the events of the 1964 Democratic National Convention, pt. 1</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618601">Tape: 11 Story: 5 - Dorie Ladner describes the events of the 1964 Democratic National Convention, pt. 2</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618602">Tape: 11 Story: 6 - Dorie Ladner describes the reactions to the 1964 Democratic National Convention</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618603">Tape: 11 Story: 7 - Dorie Ladner recalls the Freedom Summer murder trial</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618604">Tape: 11 Story: 8 - Dorie Ladner describes the aftermath of the 1964 Democratic National Convention</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618605">Tape: 12 Story: 1 - Dorie Ladner reflects upon SNCC's accomplishments in Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618606">Tape: 12 Story: 2 - Dorie Ladner remembers the SNCC retreat in Waveland, Mississippi</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618607">Tape: 12 Story: 3 - Dorie Ladner recalls the transition of civil rights activities to Alabama</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618608">Tape: 12 Story: 4 - Dorie Ladner remember the U.S. Congressional campaigns by SNCC activists</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618609">Tape: 12 Story: 5 - Dorie Ladner recalls the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618610">Tape: 12 Story: 6 - Dorie Ladner reflects upon the strategies of the Civil Rights Movement</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618611">Tape: 12 Story: 7 - Dorie Ladner reflects upon her life</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618612">Tape: 13 Story: 1 - Dorie Ladner describes SNCC's philosophy of activism</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618613">Tape: 13 Story: 2 - Dorie Ladner talks about the differences between the SCLC and SNCC</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618614">Tape: 13 Story: 3 - Dorie Ladner remembers the March on Washington</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618615">Tape: 13 Story: 4 - Dorie Ladner describes her hopes and concerns for the African American community</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618616">Tape: 13 Story: 5 - Dorie Ladner describes the value of genealogical research</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618617">Tape: 13 Story: 6 - Dorie Ladner describes her family</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618618">Tape: 13 Story: 7 - Dorie Ladner talks about Barack Obama's presidential candidacy</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/618619">Tape: 13 Story: 8 - Dorie Ladner describes how she would like to be remembered</a>
2$1
12$6
1$4