Interview with Jan Phillips, June 24, 1991

Interview Summary

Jan Phillips, a Louisville activist, was a friend of Carl and Anne Braden and also a SCEF (Southern Conference Educational Fund) board member and staff person, starting in 1972. In this interview, Phillips describes her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and her impressions of the Bradens. She discusses the divisions that arose within SCEF and the fact that the organization was a proponent of integration in the South, yet its membership was overwhelmingly white. She speaks about the tensions that arose between SCEF and black militant groups and recalls an incident where a Black Panther Party member came to the SCEF office and threatened his wife at gunpoint. Phillips, a Communist Party (CP) member, also discusses the resentment black activist groups had against SCEF as they felt it was too influenced by the CP.

Interview Keyword

Civil rights white civil rights workers

Interview LC Subject

African Americans--Civil rights--Kentucky Black Panther Party Braden, Anne, 1924-2006 Braden, Carl, 1914-1975 Civil rights workers Civil rights--Kentucky Communist Party of the United States of America Southern Conference Educational Fund

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.