Remembering Bob Moses, 1935-2021

This post was contributed by John B. Gartrell, Director, John Hope Franklin Research Center

The Franklin Research Center and Rubenstein Library mourns the loss of Robert “Bob” Parrish Moses, who passed away on July 25, 2021. Moses was giant in the fight for civil and human rights, who began working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) as an organizer soon after the organization’s founding in 1960. He worked in tirelessly on a range of issues including voter registration and community organizing in the Deep South, particularly Mississippi, Alabama, and Southwest Georgia. He would later found the Algebra Project in the 1980s, which was evolution of his work with SNCC, using mathematics as an organizing tool while seeking to expand access to a quality education in the United States.

You can use the following resources in our archives and supporting projects like the SNCC Digital Gateway to learn more about Moses’ life and experiences in the struggle for freedom –

SNCC Digital Gateway –

• Bob Moses profile page
• Bob Moses arrives in McComb
• Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Formed
• Bob Moses Begins Algebra Project

Critical Oral Histories –

• Bob Moses speaks about the particulars of Local Direct Action

Joseph Sinsheimer Papers –

• Interview with Bob Moses, 1983
• Interview with Bob Moses, 1984

SNCC 40th Anniversary Conference Videocassette Tapes –

• Bob Moses discusses Ella Baker, 2000 (beginning at 27:05 mark)

Faith Holsaert Papers – 

• Copy of Bob Moses Letter from Magnolia Jail, 1963

Duke University has had the honor of working Moses and his SNCC comrades for decades. This work continues today through the collaborative work of the Movement History Initiative. May he rest in power.