Sid Simon Collection

In 1965, a number of Queens College students participated in efforts to help black communities in Mississippi rebuild churches that were burned down by the KKK and other white supremacists groups. The action was part of the Committee of Concern a group of Mississippi religious leaders. Help was much needed by the locals, who did not have enough money to hire people for the construction and were only able to rebuild the buildings themselves on weekends. Two groups of students participated, the first group for two weeks in January/February, and the second group over the Easter Recess a few months later. Sid Simon was the faculty advisor for the first group taking photographic documentation of the trip. Though there were faculty advisors for the trips, the students organized and funded the trip themselves; including getting a car that was donated to them by the Woodcrest Commune in Rifton, NY. The first trip in the winter consisted of six students, Jon Alexander, Nick (“Gus”) Pereos, Walt Jarsky, Art Gatti, Robert Masters, and Bob Madden, and worked primarily in the Tougaloo/Jackson Miss. area. The second trip’s members were Bob Madden (same as winter group), Marc Helman, Lewis Fein, Ronny Pollack, Bob Morrissey with Steve Zeigfinger as the faculty advisor and worked on churches around Meridian, Miss.

Most of the items in this collection have been digitized, though only a selection has been published. Click here to view the finding aid for this collection