Waiting for Maria’s approval before publishing!
An Oral History Project Conducted by John Robert Lewis Fellow Jesus Murillo
Project Description
Maria Varela was a photographer for SNCC during the Civil Rights Movement and would go on to work documenting Indio-Hispano land rights movements in including the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign, the first Chicano Youth Conference, and the Chicano Movement. During the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, Varela was assigned to the South to help counter the inaccurate narrative related to the inaccurate portrayals of African Americans in the movement. Varela used photography to highlight the everyday lives of Black people taking leadership roles to change institutional and cultural norms in the South. In doing so, Varela helped cultivate a more accurate story illustrating the private lives of Black leaders to usher in the larger story of the movement.
My purpose for doing this oral history project is to highlight the use of storytelling as a tool to bridge private stories into the public sphere to combat stereotypes, share virtues learned, and to promote social change in the public sphere.
Oral History Interview with Maria Varela - 06/06/2023
Research Paper
Presentation Slides
Presentation Recording