 B EFORE: IMMERSING ONESELF IN
HISTORY
 PHOTO RESPONSE
 WI HISTORICAL SOCIETY
POWERPOINT
 DURING : IMMERSING ONESELF IN THE
PRODUCTION
 IDENTIFYING DESIGN ELEMENTS:
TABLEAU, SET , LIGHT , SOUND AND
COSTUMES
 AFTER: PROCESSING
 DISCUSSION
 TABLEAU
 NEWSPAPER
HEADLINES
Freedom
High
A RESOURCE GUIDE FOR INSTRUCTORS
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, the
Wisconsin Historical Society has digitalized a wealth of records that
document the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project. These files
include an annotated PowerPoint and an Educator’s Sourcebook; they are
available at www.wisconsinhistory.org/freedomsummer and can be used
for non-profit educational purposes. Please consider using these high
quality resources and the related primary source documents with your
students.
Freedom High
The script for Freedom High was written by Adam Kraar. This production is
directed by UW-Whitewater Theatre/Dance alumna and Uprooted Theatre
artistic director, Marti Gobel.
This play is a work of fiction, inspired by actual events during Freedom
Summer in 1964. The leading characters do not represent actual persons.
Time 1964
Place Western College in Oxford, Ohio
Historical Notes
The major events of the week of June 21, 1964 depicted in the play—including
the disappearance of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Mickey Schwerner—
represent historical fact. The public speeches of Bob Moses in the play are
essentially drawn from his actual speeches.
The play takes liberties with the historical record in several small ways. For
dramatic purposes, I’ve expanded the length of time in which there was
uncertainty about whether the Project would proceed. My aim is to honor the
actual persons involved while also creating a theatrical piece that conjures up
the dramatic spirit of this story.
- Adam Kraar, playwright
Photo credit: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Using this Guide
The purpose of this guide is to provide instructors with a framework for engaging adult
students in conversation about diversity as it applies to the production Freedom High written
by Adam Kraar and directed by Marti Gobel. It is designed to help students make
connections to moments in history by asking them to respond to primary source visual
representations (historical photographs), identify dramatic representations of these historical
moments in Freedom High, and process them by discussing and recreating these moments in
time through discussion, tableau and writing activities.
Photo credit: Dr. Mark McPhail
Freedom Summer
In an effort to integrate Mississippi’s segregated political system, nonviolent
civil rights activists organized African American voter registration, Freedom
Rides (integrated travel on interstate commercial buses) and sit-ins.
Volunteers, many of them young college students, were recruited for training
in nonviolent resistance at Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio,
June 15-28, 1964.
James Chaney, 21, Andrew Goodman, 20, and
Michael Schwerner, 24, trained at Western
College for Women before heading south to
register black voters as part of The Mississippi
Freedom Summer Project. They left Oxford,
OH June 20, 1964, and disappeared the next
day. Their bodies were found buried in an
earthen dam on a farm near Philadelphia,
Mississippi six weeks later.
Mississippi’s black residents, a majority in many counties, were
systematically excluded from politics by arbitrary literacy tests and taxes as
well as other forms of legal discrimination. Those who wanted to exercise
their right to vote were harassed and beaten; they faced the potential loss of
their jobs, and they were threatened and intimidated by the Ku Klux Klan.
Few black residents of Mississippi took the chance of attempting to register
to vote.
Freedom Summer organizers, including The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), felt that helping African Americans register to vote
and participate in politics in Mississippi would help break down the racial
barriers in the South.
The major goal of Freedom Summer was to empower Mississippi’s black
residents to participate in local, state and national politics. The project also
aimed to focus the nation’s attention on conditions in Mississippi to force the
issue of the federal government passing laws to protect all U.S. citizens.
Photo credit: Black Star
2
Production Concept
for FREEDOM HIGH
By Adam Kraar
Photo credit: Herbert Randall
More about the main
character...
Jessica, a 21 year-old white
woman, has arrived on the
campus of Western College in
Ohio to be trained as a volunteer
for the Freedom Summer
Project. In six days, she will
leave the sheltered campus for
Mississippi to help register
African-American voters. The
play is a representation of
Jessica’s memories and
impressions.
FREEDOM HIGH is a “Memory Piece” or a play written
from one or several individuals’ viewpoints of past events.
The scenes offered are intended to show memories and make
strong impressions on the audience. For this reason the
movement and blocking of this particular production is
extremely important. The actors will use simple props and
Tableaus to move the story forward. Some actors will play
more than one role—doubling. This quality is especially
important for the Volunteer Chorus who is a constant and
powerful presence in the play. They will aid in setting the
stage when there is a need to show religious gatherings, riots,
mobs, political rallies, etc. Think of them as a Greek Chorus.
This play is narrated by one character, Jessica. Her addresses
to the audience provide a constant connection with the
viewing audience. In addition, Jessica’s monologues are the
only realistic scene work in this production. Her emotions
are immediate when she speaks in the moment to the
audience. All other scenes are to be done in more stylistic
manner employing the use of The Tableau and exaggerated
movement. The contrast between the two approaches to
theatrical presentations allows the actors to tell the story in a
clear, vocal and physical way while constantly engaging the
audience.
FREEDOM HIGH is a historically accurate fictional play.
That is, the roots of the play are founded in actual events but
the characters involved are not. The playwright uses fact and
imagination to write how they may have felt and responded
during these real situations.
Design Elements
Photo credit: Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC)
Many Design Elements go in to the creation of a full production. The choices made artistically for each element aid in telling the story
that the director wishes to share and that the playwright intended. The effective use of Tableaus, Set, Light, Sound and Costumes for any
given production can be key in storytelling or Theatrical Productions. At most times all of the Design Elements will be employed
simultaneously. They are, however, easy to isolate and analyze when you understand their purpose and how they are being used.
Tableaus: Tableau means moving picture. It is a group of actors carefully posed. The actors are simply costumed and theatrically lit.
There is no speech and once the actors reach the appropriate, pre-choreographed position they do not move until the scene shifts or
changes. It is a quick way to tie what is happening on stage to an event, painting or photograph. For this particular production, Tableaus
mirroring actual photographs from the day will be used. It is also a way to indicate violence and danger without the use of stage combat
and props.
Set: The set is the platform or stage that the actors are working on. The set indicates geographic location(s), period in history, public
and private structures, homes, offices, schools, etc.… The set can be elaborate and complex or simple and sparse in its design. This
production is designed to move at a quick pace from site to site within the story. For this reason the set is primarily bare. Tree trunks
and benches are the only set pieces. It is the actors’ responsibility to bring the audience imagination to life with sharp physicality and
innovative use of the simple set pieces.
Light: Lighting is a design element used to indicate to the audience location, time of day, shift in mood and to support what the
audience is already feeling. At its most basic function lighting helps all involved to see, or not see, the play. The design for this show
was chosen as a mixture of spots and highlights– used when Jessica is addressing the audience, and, dimmer lighting– used for group
scenes and properly balanced so that shadows can offer additional movement on stage and distinct shapes can be seen as the actors move
into Tableaus.
3
Songs of
Freedom Summer
Design Elements
Sound: The Sound Design includes every sound
that the actors and audience use and hear. This
can be the ringing of a phone, a radio, dogs
barking, cars or sirens, thunderstorms and music.
Music was a large part of the Civil Rights
Movement. It offered a way to bring quick
commonality between the gathering of people
from different races, socio-economic and
religious backgrounds. This production will use
music in very much the same way to quickly
connect the audience to the play. The majority of
the songs selected will be sung A Capella, or,
without the use of supporting music. The music is
also chosen to be recognizable, further engaging
the audience. There is one instance in the play
when this approach to sound is broken, occurring
when a character plays an acoustic guitar. All
other sound will be generated from the actors
themselves.
Freedom songs played a critical
role in the voter registration
drives, freedom rides and other
non-violent protests during the
Civil Rights Movement such as
lunch counter sit-ins. As a
result, folk music enjoyed a new
visibility and relevance, and
songs by artists Bob Dylan,
Judy Collins and Peter, Paul
and Mary became part of
popular culture and history.
Below are a sampling of songs
to enhance your study of
Freedom Summer. These
songs are available as audio
files at—www.uww.edu/
youngauditorium/season/
freedom-high
Here’s to the State of Mississippi
Phil Ochs
Photo credit: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Costume: The Costumes are the clothes the actors wear when on stage. They too are a great way to
indicate time period, social status, weather and sometimes location. On a bare set, if all of the actors
are in formal attire, it is safe to assume that they are at a high-end event. The costume design not
only aids in the telling of the story, it helps the actor create clearer characters. The costume design
for this show was chosen with the production’s high level of movement in mind. The actors’ bodies
are props and set designs themselves. Form fitting, comfortable clothes of similar style and color
will costume the cast. Because the true picture is created in the imagination of the viewer, the color
black allows the actors to portray multiple characters, move quickly and present their bodies in a
way to indicate appropriate action from scene to scene. The uniformity of style and color in the
costume design is particularly important for the Volunteer Chorus. This design choice immediately
indicates to the audience that this is an ensemble piece and that all of the characters are of equal
importance.
Ballad of Medger Evers
SNCC Freedom Singers
Death of Medger Evers
Donal Leace
Song for Ben Chaney
Jack Landron
Goodman, Schwerner & Chaney
Tom Paxton
Only a Pawn, Bob Dylan
Those Three Are On My Mind
Kim and Reggie Harris
Michael, Andrew & James
Richard and Mimi Farina
Three Young Men
Carolyn Hester
In the Mississippi River
SNCC Freedom Singers
You Should’ve Been Down in
Mississippi, Magpie
Mississippi Summer, Si Kahn
Summer 64
Freedom Voices of Zion
Waves of Freedom
Eric Anderson
Photo credit: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
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Photo Response before the play
The purpose of this activity is to engage students in a visual literacy activity in order to
stimulate discussion about historical moments during Freedom Summer in 1964. The goal
is to have students read these photographs as they would any other “text.”
The photograph files listed below have been selected based upon their relevance to the Freedom
Summer Project. Some of these photographs will be represented using tableau during the play. The
photo files can be projected from the instructor’s computer or distributed as printed copies. Initially,
no notes or commentary should be provided by the instructor; therefore, the students may not know
what they are actually looking at until they have had a chance to observe the photos on their own.
Students will respond to and discuss each photo, sparking them to think more deeply about moments
in history that will be represented in Freedom High.
The photographs included are:
FSphoto1—Police dog attack (1964, Birmingham, Alabama): The Klan has helped elect Eugene
“Bull” Connor as Birmingham's police chief. Birmingham's black citizens march, protest, and
demonstrate. They want the same rights as everyone else. Bull Connor sends attack dogs. He
says, "All you gotta do is tell them you're going to bring the dogs. Look at 'em run. I want to see the
dogs work."
FSphoto2—Freedom Summer training (1964, Oxford, Ohio): Hundreds of volunteers attended
training at Western College to learn non-violent protest methods. They helped establish Freedom
schools, Freedom clinics, and assisted with African American voter registration, especially in
Mississippi.
FSphoto3—A Freedom Summer volunteer assists with African American voter registration (1964,
Mississippi).
FSphoto4—Freedom Summer workers/ Freedom songs (1964, Mississippi).
FSphoto5—Young volunteers on the Western College campus (1964, Oxford, Ohio).
FSphoto6—Members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) lead a training
session at Western College (1964, Oxford, Ohio).
Directions:
Introduce students to the Rhetorical Triangle and basic skill set for reading photos. Project the photos
(one at a time) or distribute printed copies and give students about five minutes to carefully look at the
photograph and respond by considering: subject/content, audience/content, and perspective. Their
responses can be in the form of informal written notes or a journal entry. Following this time for
individual response, give the students two minutes to share their unrestricted thoughts about the photo
with another student. At the end of two minutes, engage the class in discussion as you “group read”
the photo using the basic skill set for reading photographs. Provide the necessary factual and
background information related to the photograph and how it connects to Freedom Summer.
Historical Background before the play
WI Historical Society PowerPoint
This PowerPoint (available at www.uww.edu/youngauditorium/season/freedom-high) and on
the WI Historical Society website (www.wisconsinhistory.org) tells the story of the 1964
Freedom Summer project. It contains about 40 slides with images taken mainly from the digital
collection of manuscripts at the Wisconsin Historical Society where much more information is
available.
The notes to each slide provide brief historical information about events and suggest readings
drawn from online documents and first-person accounts.
Teachers and students are free to download this presentation and adapt it to their own
situations. Edit or delete slides, insert new ones, revise the texts, and alter it as needed to suit
your classroom or audience. If you redistribute it, please include this introductory note.
Copyright to specific images is possessed by their creators. Using them for non-profit
educational purposes is generally permitted under the U.S. Copyright Law but reproduction for
commercial use could bring prosecution by copyright holders. You, the end user, are
responsible for obeying the copyright law.
Rhetorical Triangle
Subject/ Content
The subjects of a photo,
their appearance and gaze ;
the components of the image,
their arrangement, the use of
color, and where your eye is
drawn within the image; the
types of narrative elements
present in the image—what
story is told? Is there an
implied chronology before or
after the image?
Audience/ Content
The historical and cultural
contexts from which the
image emerged; the historical
and cultural contexts in which
the image is seen or read—
the contexts surrounding the
audience; the message/image
itself, and how historical and
cultural contexts shape the
way a particular theme or
subject is presented.
Perspective
The photographer’s gaze or
perspective and camera
angle; the framing of the
subject matter; the use of the
camera to establish an
illusion of intimacy or sense
of distance.
Basic Skills for
Reading a Photo




Distinguish between facts
and evidence
Discover how various
parts of an image support
a larger idea or concept
Demonstrate how explicit
parts combine to form
implicit wholes
Address specific ideas
(how, for example, an
idea of poverty is
supported by elements
within an image), or more
theoretical positions
(how, for example, the
parts of an image speak
to an understanding
of war).
Source: Writing Studio/ Duke University
http://uwp.aas.duke.edu/wstudio
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Identifying Design Elements during the play
During the play, challenge yourself to identify each of the following design elements. Consider how each element contributes
to the overall production and aids in your understanding and connection to historical events that occurred during Freedom
Summer.
Tableau
 How many of the Tableau scenes do you think are actual photographs, and which photos were they? If you viewed the
historical photographs associated with this resource guide and/or completed the photo response activity in class, did you
recognize any specific photographs?
 How do the actors move into and out of the Tableau?
 What shapes were evident in the Tableaus when there was violence? Peacefulness?
Set
 How many different locations does the story require?
 What are some of the unconventional ways the set pieces are used to represent different objects?
 How much of the language in the play indicates where you are versus what you are seeing with your eyes?
Light
 What colors are present when danger is near or present?
 How does lighting support the shifts between present and past?
 When is specific use of lighting employed to indicate location, and how is it done?
Sound
 When music is used during the production, how does it support the actions on stage?
 Aside from music, what other sound elements are present in the production?
 How do the actors accomplish presenting the various non-musical sounds needed?
Costume
 How did the actors show the audience when they had hats and coats or accessories on or with them?
 How did the actors show that their wear was formal or casual?
 How would the use of elaborate costumes affect this particular production?
6
Discussion after the play
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.



9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
What challenges did civil rights organizers face in standing up to the racist power structures in Mississippi?
What challenges did the leaders and volunteers face during the orientation and early days of the Freedom Summer project?
Describe the process by which the black leaders and white volunteers overcame racial divisions and formed a coalition.
Why was interracial coalition so important to this project, and what does the importance of the white allies reveal about race,
media, and public opinion and power in American society? Are these concerns still relevant?
What additional personal and social benefits did the volunteers, the organizers, and the host families experience through
building an interracial coalition?
What special challenges did female volunteers face and what was significant about the role they played in African American
voter registration during Freedom Summer?
What impact did Freedom Summer have among youth in the Mississippi communities that participated?
The 50th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act recently occurred in June 2014. What can your generation do to
honor, perpetuate and advance the goals of the civil rights movement? Are these goals still relevant?
Why is voting such an important civil right?
What tactics did white supremacists in the Jim Crow South use to prevent African American people from voting? Why
were they afraid of the black vote?
In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, liberating Alabama, Alaska, Arizona,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia of federal oversight of voting procedures. Chief
Justice John Roberts said that “our country has changed” and we no longer need to worry about racial discrimination at the
polls. Do you think that America is cured of institutional racism, or is voter discrimination still a concern?
Throughout U.S. history specific groups have been the target of exclusion when it comes to voting rights. (Refer to the U.S.
Voting Rights Timeline included in the resource set for Freedom High.) Women, African Americans, Chinese, Japanese,
and Native American peoples have all experienced discriminatory practices preventing them from exercising their rights to
vote. Property ownership, special taxes, literacy tests, and changes in requirements for citizenship have all been used as
tactics to keep certain groups of people from voting. How have members of these persecuted groups fought this injustice?
Historically, how have certain groups like women and African Americans formed coalitions in order to fight for the right to
vote? Discuss the relevance of Freedom Summer in light of this history related to voting rights.
What were Freedom Schools and why was there such a need for education in the African American communities in Mississippi?
Do you think that our modern school system puts enough emphasis on African American history and the history of other
oppressed and minority communities in the United States?
The Ku Klux Klan still organizes marches and rallies in communities throughout the U.S. to this day. Many communities,
including university campus communities, have taken the approach of ignoring these events (refer to jpg image “Ignore Klan,
but…” in the resource set for Freedom High available at www.uww.edu/youngauditorium/season/freedom-high). Do you agree
with this approach? Is it possible that not acknowledging this type of event is just as harmful as acknowledging it? Why or why
not?
“Mississippi was a terrorist state at that time,” said Richard Momeyer, a Miami professor who was among those training young
people in 1964. “They used monopolized force to repress the civil rights of black people and the government worked alongside
terrorist organizations to ensure that the blacks remained helpless.” The word “terrorist” certainly has a different connotation
for you as a 21st century citizen, but in many ways the tactics used then and now are the same. Discuss some of the parallels
that are evident when you think about the word “terrorist” in historical context versus present day.
In your lifetime, you and your fellow students and friends may have faced or will face injustices and discrimination based on
race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, height, weight, or
marital status. Are there injustices, persecutions, or discriminatory practices that you or your close family members or friends
have personally experienced? In what way have you expressed your feelings about these situations? Is it important to you to
speak out against injustices toward others, even if you don’t perceive that the situation will directly affect you? Why or why
not?
As a young adult living in 21st century America, what is your
relationship to the Civil Rights Movement? How does this history affect
your daily life?
Credit: Some of the discussion questions listed above were created by and used
with permission of The San Francisco Film Society Education Department.
Photo credit: Herbert Randall
7
Tableau Activity after the play
Tableau means moving picture. It is a group of actors carefully posed. The actors are simply costumed and theatrically lit. There is no
speech and once the actors reach the appropriate, pre-choreographed position they do not move until the scene shifts or changes. It is a
quick way to tie what is happening on stage to an event, painting or photograph. For this particular production, Tableaus mirroring
actual photographs from the day will be used. It is also a way to indicate violence and danger without the use of stage combat and
props.
The purpose of this tableau activity is to help the student assign emotion and depth to the historical moment that they are recreating. In
this case, it should help them better understand and connect with the actual subjects in the historical photos from the 1964 Freedom
Summer Project. You will find a brief description of these six photos on page 2 of this guide. The actual photos are included as jpg
files in the resource set for Freedom High available at www.uww.edu/youngauditorium/season/freedom-high. These are the same
photos used for the photo response activity and used as tableau in the production Freedom High.
Directions:
You can either break the class into groups and assign each group a different picture, OR you can focus on one picture at a time
(projected) and call for student volunteers. It is also interesting to assign the SAME picture to two different groups in order to see
different interpretations of the same moment in time. The purpose of the tableau is not to recreate the same picture but to interpret it
and represent it based on those interpretations. Students should discuss the historical significance of the photo and their personal
reactions to it. They should discuss who the subjects of the photo are (or might be, if unknown) and what emotions they might be
feeling at that moment. Refer to the guidelines on page 2 of this guide for reading photography and using the Rhetorical Triangle. The
group should then create a tableau that represents that moment in time. Students will decide on what their final “picture” will look like
and then determine how they will move into that picture until they achieve their final (frozen) poses. Remind students that in a
completed tableau each subject is carefully and intentionally posed and remains still. It may be helpful to give students a paced
transition by counting down from 8 to 1 as they move into their tableau.
8
Newspaper Headline Activity after the play
A grassy hill on the Western Campus of Miami University is home to a stone monument dedicated to the Freedom Summer Project of
1964. Each stone is engraved with a newspaper headline in memory of the events of Freedom Summer.
The purpose of this activity is to provide students with an opportunity for a written reflective response after seeing the play Freedom
High and/or discussing Freedom Summer.
Directions: Provide students with newspaper headlines printed in 1964 in reference to Freedom Summer. There are several options
listed below. The two photos of headlines engraved on the monument’s stones pictured below are included as jpg images in the
resource set for Freedom High available at www.uww.edu/youngauditorium/season/freedom-high. Students should select a newspaper
headline to use as a prompt for a written response following the play or discussion about Freedom Summer. It is the instructor’s
prerogative to determine the format of the written response and provide appropriate guidelines for the written piece; the writing can be
done as a straight piece of journalism or can simply be an informal personal response prompted by the headline and the student’s
experience with Freedom High.
1964 Newspaper Headlines
Arrested Riders Now Stand at 110
Martin Luther King Speech Today in Open Air Theater
Miss. Jails Freedom Riders
Ambushers Burn Bus: Riots Hit Birmingham
Three Civil Rights Workers Missing
Rights Team’s Burned Car Found in Mississippi Bog; Dulles to Aid Hunt for 3
Young Rights Trainees Scared, Dedicated
Missing car found burned, no sign of three workers. Car
was on list circulated statewide by Canton White Citizens
Council.
Tuesday, June 23, 1964
Philadelphia, Mississippi
Freedom Summer
FBI Joins in Search in South for 3 Missing Rights
Workers
Tuesday, June 23, 1964
Yonkers Herald
Statesman, N.Y.
Photo credit: Dr. Mark McPhail
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Resource Set
The following resources are referenced in this guide and are available for download at—
http://www.uww.edu/youngauditorium/season/freedom-high/freedom-high-resources
Please keep in mind that these resources should be used for non-profit educational purposes only.
Photos of Freedom Summer: 6 Jpg photo files for use in photo response and tableau activities; some of these photos will be
represented as tableau in the production Freedom High
Songs of Freedom Summer: 14 audio files ready for classroom use to enhance discussion and study of Freedom Summer
Wisconsin Historical Society Freedom Summer Sourcebook for Educators
Wisconsin Historical Society Freedom Summer Teacher PowerPoint
Writing Studio/ Duke University - Visual Rhetoric/ Visual Literacy: Writing About Photography; pdf file for use in photo response
and tableau activities
U.S. Voting Rights Timeline: referenced in discussion question #9.
KKK newspaper image (jpg): referenced in discussion question #11.
Monument images (jpg): referenced in Newspaper Headlines activity.
Acknowledgements
Thank you for providing us with resources and text for use in this guide: Marti Gobel, Adam Kraar, Dr. Mark McPhail, Herbert Randall, and The San
Francisco Film Society Education Department.
Please direct all comments and queries to Shannon Dozoryst, Director of Education and Outreach
Young Auditorium
930 W. Main St.
Whitewater, WI 53190
[email protected]
262-472-1432
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