Post contributed by Mattison Bond, Coordinator, Movement History Initiative
On May 8, 2025 Worth Westinghouse Long Jr., Folklorist and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (also known as SNCC) Veteran passed away. The Franklin Research Center and Rubenstein Library mourns this lost and remembers his contributions as not only an activist, but also as a cultural archivist and true Durham native.
Long joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1963, organizing in Selma, Alabama, during a pivotal time in the Civil Rights Movement. He would later become a nationally recognized folklorist, committed to preserving and celebrating Black cultural traditions. His work with the Smithsonian Institution, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Library of Congress helped amplify the voices, music, and stories of Black communities across the South.
A proud son of Durham’s Hayti community, Long’s legacy bridges activism and cultural memory. We are grateful for his life and his enduring contributions to justice and history.
To learn more about Worth Long and his legacy:
Worth Long Profile on SNCC Digital Gateway https://snccdigital.org/people/worth-long/
In Memoriam: Worth Long by Charlie Cobb https://sncclegacyproject.org/in-memoriam-worth-long/
“Organizers Influence other Organizers: Being SNCCy with Worth Long” https://youtu.be/5duRa3LFumA?feature=shared
“Outsinging Trouble” By Worth Long and Emile Crosby https://sncclegacyproject.org/outsinging-trouble/
Interviews
Civil Rights History Project Interview completed by the Southern Oral History Program under contract to the Smithsonian Institution ’s National Museum of African American History & Culture and the Library of Congress, 2015 https://www.crmvet.org/nars/long_w.pdf
Molly McGehee, “You Do Not Own What You Cannot Control: An Interview with Activist and Folklorist Worth Long,” Mississippi Folklife (Fall 1998), 12-20. https://snccdigital.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/10_Worth-Long-Interview-with-Molly-McGhee.docx.pdf
John Hope Franklin Research Center
SNCC Legacy Project Critical Oral History Conference Interviews at Duke’ Center for Documentary Studies https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/cdssncccriticaloh
The Charlie Cobb Interviews, 2012-2014 Collection
- Long, Worth, 2012-03-24 (This Nonviolent Stuff Will Get You Killed Interviews, 2012-2013)
https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/charliecobbinterviews_aspace_25368974a512b9156abc424b7f2609eb - Brown Oral History 20141105 Worth Interview Audio.mp3 (Brown University Interviews, 2014) https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/charliecobbinterviews_aspace_7f081bebef0967a8e53c3a5151f319c5
The SNCC Digital Gateway Project Files, 2002- 2018 (bulk 2010-2018) Collection:
- Worth Long and Maria Varela oral history materials, 2002-2017 (bulk 2016-2017) https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/snccdigitalgateway_aspace_456a2f1801e551f0c2aeffdf534ccf93