Robert
Moses was born in 1935 in Harlem. He had two brothers and his
family was poor. Because Moses had strong academic skills he was
able to attend a competitive private high school. He then attended
Hamilton College and went on to earn a master's degree in philosophy
from Harvard. During his studies, Moses traveled abroad and was
exposed to the ideals of pacifism. He also became acquainted with
the works of the French philosopher Camus, whose ideas were an
important influence on the young Moses. Moses returned home when
his family suffered a crisis. In 1959, his mother died.
Shortly
after his mother's death, the first sit-ins took place. Moses
read about them in the newspapers. In the spring of 1960, Moses
was visiting his uncle in Hampton, Virginia. He witnessed a sit-in
in progress in Newport News and slipped into the middle of it.
This was a pivotal event for Moses.
When he
returned to New York, he decided that would go south that summer.
That summer Moses moved to Atlanta and began working with SNCC.
Moses made a trip to Mississippi to gather people to come to Atlanta
in October for a SNCC conference.
In Mississippi,
Moses met Amzie Moore, a local NAACP chairman. Together they planned
a campaign to begin registering African-Americans in Mississippi
to vote. Not only was this a large endeavor, in Mississippi it
was a very dangerous one. Moses spent four years in Mississippi
working on voter registration.
Today
Moses is involved in education reform.
Hear
Bob Moses describe the Greenwood Voter Registration Project
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