doi:10.7916/d8-fc80-9p56Oral history interview with James Feely, 1999Feely, Jamesoral historiesmixed materialCollege teachersCivil rights movements--History--20th century.--United StatesCivil rights demonstrations--United StatesUnited States Race relations 20th centuryFeely, JamesGreen, PercySt. Louis Committee of Racial EqualityLindenwood CollegeUnited States. Federal Bureau of InvestigationThe interview begins with a discussion of Feely's conservative background, his parent's occupations, and his education. As an adolescent, Feely was sent to the Stony Brook School, a Christian boarding school in New York. Upon graduating from Stony Brook, Feely attended New York University and Northwestern College (University of Northwestern - St. Paul) in Minnesota. After marrying classmate Marilynne Bulla, Feely worked several odd jobs before deciding to pursue a career in the academy. While at graduate school at Washington University in 1959, Feely met CORE members Tim Riley and Perry Proctor. Feely describes his first CORE meeting in 1960, during which he met Percy Green. Feely goes on to recall picketing White Castle. Feely explains his embrace of the civil rights movement. He also recalls the privileged treatment he received from law enforcement, events in the lives of his three children, and the influence activism had his children. The next portion of the interview is spent detailing Feely's experience as an activist-academic. Feely describes the political atmosphere of Lindenwood College and the surrounding community. Naming University President Franc L. McCluer and English Department Chair Alice Parker as allies, Feely speaks to the power of literature to induce social action. Feely goes on to discuss a dramatization of the disappearance of Chaney, Schwerner, and Goodman that ACTION performed; a diner sit-in in Columbia, Missouri; the significance of legislation; and his downtown St. Louis neighborhood. Feely summarizes the attempts of the FBI and CIA to thwart ACTION. Also discussed is: Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, and African religions