During Freedom Summer, volunteers set up alternative schools, called Freedom Schools, to teach subjects such as black history, reading, and math. The schools were open to adults as well as children and focused on discussion as opposed to lectures.
Even after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Mississippi schools remained segregated. Also, many African-American children were called on to work as sharecroppers throughout the year, with that taking precedence over their education. During Freedom Summer, volunteers set up alternative schools, called Freedom Schools, to teach subjects such as black history, reading, and math. The schools were open to adults as well as children and focused on discussion as opposed to lectures. Students also produced their own publications such as the Pleasant Green Magazine shown in Richard Beymer’s film A Regular Bouquet: Mississippi Summer.