Remembering the Legacy of SNCC Veteran and Folklorist Worth Long. (Jan. 15th 1936- May 8, 2025)

Post contributed by Mattison Bond, Coordinator, Movement History Initiative

Photo of Worth Long taken from SNCClegacyproject.org

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.

Worth Long’s Alabama State Police file, undated, Alabama Photographs and Pictures Collection, ADAH. Photo found at https://snccdigital.org/people/worth-long/

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