The SCOPE of Freedom
The Leadership of Hosea Williams with Dr. King's Summer '65 Student Volunteers
Willy Siegel Leventhal
Senator Harris Wofford
Ambassador Andrew Young
Bayard Rustin
2002 Pulitizer Prize winner, Carry Me Home Birmingham, Diane McWhorter
"There's nothing like primary sources to bring history to life, and Willy Leventhal has done a splendid job of assembling the daily, tangible "stuff" of a neglected chapter in the annals of the civil rights movement in America. It is simply thrilling to read about this quintessential democratic struggle of the 1965-'66 Southern Christian Leadership Conference—Summer Community Organization and Political Education (SCOPE) project in real time. I hope the documents — from the incredible training sessions conducted by Bayard Rustin to the evaluation forms filled out by the college-age volunteers — will inspire a generation of students to make their own, amazing history."
Howard Zinn, author, A People's History of the United States
"Willy Siegel Leventhal has done us all a huge service, by recalling the untold stories of a movement which has been recorded many times, but not like this. He has put together an extraordinary treasure trove of documents, much of it unknown to me, though I was involved in and have written much about the Southern movement for racial equality. This is fascinating material, centered on the right of black people to vote. Altogether, this is an extremely valuable contribution to the social history of our time."
Dr. Lewis V. Baldwin, Professor, Religious Studies, Vanderbilt University
"The SCOPE of Freedom: The Leadership of Hosea Williams with Dr. King's Summer '65 Student Volunteers significantly advances our understanding of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights crusade of the 1960s. Drawing on a range of sources and on insights that have emerged out of his own years of involvement in the freedom struggle, he has provided a rich, provocative, and groundbreaking work. I highly recommend this book to scholars and students of the civil rights movement."
"Willy Leventhal's book adds a new and significant chapter to the scholarship on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement. Written with grace, a rare insight, and a deep appreciation for the relationship between King and Hosea Williams, this work is a much-needed and convincing answer to those scholars who have heavily critiqued and slighted SCLC's SCOPE program."