A Discussion with Bob Zellner and Pamela Smith Zellner

An Oral History Project Conducted by John Robert Lewis Fellow Tawreak Gamble-Eddington

Project Description

My oral history project focuses on the lives of Pamela Smith Zellner and Bob Zellner in the Civil Rights Movement and nonviolent advocacy. The central focus of the project, as well as the line of questioning outlined below, is to understand the experiences of these two not only as individuals but as a couple. Additionally, for Bob Zellner, we aim to explore how and why they chose acceptance and/or nonviolence.

I met Pamela Smith Zellner and Bob Zellner for the first time in 2024 at the Faith and Politics Congressional Pilgrimage to Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma Alabama. After speaking with the two of them at breakfast for nearly an hour, I was struck not only by their dedication and passion for their work but also by their genuine concern for the world around them and speaking with youth about advocacy. However, their work, especially in the case of Bob Zellner, has taken a toll on them both mentally and physically as they have had to transgress harassment and disapproval in a variety of forms for engaging in their own respective advocacy activities.

Bob was born April 5, 1939, in Daphne, Alabama, and is the grandson of a KKK member. Despite this, Bob was the first white field secretary of SNCC, building off his faith to become involved in the Civil Rights Movement, being routinely beaten and arrested for his advocacy (View 2024: 2; SNCC Digital 2024). In his youth, Bob attended an all-white Methodistschool called Huntingdon College in Montgomery, but he maintained regular interaction with organizers at Alabama State College for Negroes where he was introduced to SNCC and hired to do outreach. As tensions rose within SNCC related to interracial policies, Bob left to join SCEF (SNCC Digital 2024).

Pamela Zellner was born in Fairhope, Alabama, and was raised on the move by her military parents. Pamela attended the University of Missouri and was active in SDS before becoming disenchanted with their proclivity for violence. Subsequently, Pamela dropped out of college and became a “flower child” in the hippie movement (Hudson 2023: 1). Over time, Pamela saw the deep racial and socio-economic divisions in our country and joined the 2,000-strong group of meditators led by Steven Gaskin (Hudson 2023: 2-3). After leaving the group, in the early 1990s, Pamela became a doula in Boulder, Colorado.

This work began by providing context to the interview that was conducted on April 24th, 2024, and then continued to give a transcribing of the interview before ultimately ending with a series of responses to the prompt questions about our individual community’s collective memories.

Oral History Interview with Bob Zellner and Pamela Smith Zellner - 04/24/2024

Presentation Slides