Toggle Menu
News >

Nichter Publishes Article on Civil Rights Movement

June 01, 2023

By Office of Marketing

Sociology professor Matt Nichter recently published an article in Critical Historical Studies, a journal produced by the University of Chicago Press.

Image of https://cdn.sanity.io/images/qe2ul2l0/production/d8ba42a0a22527d3219f9fea76fab32b97fa8313-2000x3000.jpg?auto=format&fit=max&q=68&w=203 203w, https://cdn.sanity.io/images/qe2ul2l0/production/d8ba42a0a22527d3219f9fea76fab32b97fa8313-2000x3000.jpg?auto=format&fit=max&q=68&w=405 405w, https://cdn.sanity.io/images/qe2ul2l0/production/d8ba42a0a22527d3219f9fea76fab32b97fa8313-2000x3000.jpg?auto=format&fit=max&q=68&w=608 608w, https://cdn.sanity.io/images/qe2ul2l0/production/d8ba42a0a22527d3219f9fea76fab32b97fa8313-2000x3000.jpg?auto=format&fit=max&q=68&w=810 810w, https://cdn.sanity.io/images/qe2ul2l0/production/d8ba42a0a22527d3219f9fea76fab32b97fa8313-2000x3000.jpg?auto=format&fit=max&q=68&w=1215 1215w, https://cdn.sanity.io/images/qe2ul2l0/production/d8ba42a0a22527d3219f9fea76fab32b97fa8313-2000x3000.jpg?auto=format&fit=max&q=68&w=1620 1620w
Photo by Scott Cook.

In his article, “From the Ashes of the Old: The Old Left and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 1957-1965,” sociology professor Matt Nichter examines how the socialist milieu of the 1930s and ’40s shaped the African American civil rights movement of the ’50s and ’60s. With the goal of redeeming the “soul of America” through nonviolent resistance, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was established in 1957 under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. to coordinate the action of local protest groups throughout the South.

Nichter explains how during the Jim Crow era, supporters of segregation insisted that Black protesters were being manipulated by communists as part of an elaborate conspiracy to destroy America. Although these were absurd accusations, they led many civil rights activists to hide or downplay their connections to the socialist movement.

Nichter shows that several notable figures in SCLC were indeed socialists, including Dr. King himself. The article also presents new findings on the early activism of Rev. Joseph Lowery, Rev. C.T. Vivian, and many other seminal civil rights leaders.

In courses like Black Lives Matter and The Civil Rights Movement and Black Freedom Struggle, Nichter highlights the diversity and complexity of past social movements and encourages his students to think about the roles they might play in current and future anti-racist movements.


Related News

July 01, 2026

Rollins Research Earns National Honors for Sustainability Study

Communication professor David Painter and recent graduate Lauren Velazquez ’25MSC earned third place for their research paper in the highly competitive national public relations division at a journalism conference.

Rollins Research Earns National Honors for Sustainability Study

July 15, 2025

The Dynamo

Brooke Barnett brings a mindset of possibility, passion, and purpose—and a knack for meaningful, necessary questions—to the role of leading Rollins as the College’s 16th president.

The Dynamo

July 10, 2025

The Support to Succeed

At Rollins, we connect you to the right people with the right resources at the right time so you don't ever fall through the cracks.

The Support to Succeed