Roberta Dawson’s Story as a 16-Year-Old Living in Selma in 1965: We Lit the Fire

An Oral History Project Conducted by John Robert Lewis Leader Tarolyn Carlton

Project Description

For my project I interviewed my aunt, Roberta Dawson. In 1965, she was a 16-year-old student at R.B. Hudson High School in Selma, AL. She was part of a group of students who because of Dallas County’s voter registration and desegregation efforts, formed the “Tip of the Arrow” as coined by the author Charles A. Bonner in his 2020 novel. This project describes her role as a young person in the civil rights movement in Selma, Alabama.