Interview with Raoul Cunningham, April 22, 2005

Interview Summary

At the time of the interview, Cunningham was president of the Louisville branch of the NAACP. He worked with Huddleston in his 1972 campaign through his entire time in the Senate. Cunningham discusses his involvement in politics at the local level and while he was a student. His title while working with Huddleston was the Senior Assistant for Legislation and Community Relations. One major project they worked on was a mudslide in Eastern Kentucky during Christmas 1972. He discusses how he was responsible for getting people together to deal with disaster relief for the tornadoes in 1974. Cunningham discusses the segregation of African American staffers, including how few black members there were and how that affected their treatment by white members. He tells a few stories of racism he experienced or witnessed. Cunningham says Huddleston was a great boss and a laid back individual. Cunningham discusses his experiences during the Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal. He discusses the administration switches that happened while he was a staffer. He describes his personal life while working for Huddleston. He was involved in an organization for black staffers called Pendulum throughout his entire time there until it broke up. He discusses his life after Huddleston lost his Senate seat. He describes his involvement in civil rights and with the NAACP and his opinions on some civil rights issues.

Interview Keyword

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Voting rights Disenfranchisement Felon rights

Interview LC Subject

Huddleston, Walter D. (Walter Darlington), 1926-2018 Kentucky--Politics and government Voting African Americans--Civil rights Discrimination in employment National Association for the Advancement of Colored People African American leadership United States. Congress. Senate. Race discrimination Politicians--Kentucky

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Interview Usage

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