Commitment and endurance: Common themes in the life histories of civil rights workers who stayed.

First-person life histories of a group of civil rights workers who have maintained a long-term commitment to the Movement are summarized and analyzed.

Abstract

First-person life histories of a group of civil rights workers who have maintained a long-term commitment to the Movement are summarized and analyzed. The importance of relationships with others, changes in the ways the workers viewed themselves, the development of faith in their work, and the reconciliation of their Movement experiences with those of their past life emerge as central themes in their accounts.