Children of the Struggle and the Ancestors Who Stayed

Winner of the Anne B. and James B. McMillan Prize

A powerful collection of firsthand stories from the Tuskegee Institute High School Class of 1964—students who came of age in the crucible of the Civil Rights Movement. Their stories uncover the bold choices of their ancestors who chose to stay and help shape the South.

Children of the Struggle and the Ancestors Who Stayed, edited by Sonjia Parker Redmond and Beatrice J. Adams, brings together twenty-one deeply personal narratives from members of the Tuskegee Institute High School Class of 1964. These students grew up at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, coming of age during landmark legal battles, community-led voter registration efforts, and the long shadow of Jim Crow.

Graduating in the year of the Civil Rights Act and Freedom Summer, these young people had already helped desegregate Alabama schools. They marched from Selma to Montgomery, mourned the assassination of classmate Sammy Younge Jr., and witnessed firsthand the violent resistance to change that defined the era.

Rather than join the Great Migration northward, many of them followed the lead of their ancestors and chose to stay—becoming educators, organizers, and civic leaders. Their lives reflect a powerful legacy of resistance and renewal, rooted in a deep sense of place and purpose. This collection preserves their voices and honors the generations of Black families who fought for justice not only through protest, but by staying, building, and believing in the promise of the South.