Oral history with Mr. Fred Winyard

              An Oral History with Mr. Fred Winyard
This oral history is provided through a cooperative project of USM Libraries and USM's Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage It is presented here for reference purposes only. Interviews in this collection are protected by copyright and PERMISSION TO PUBLISH MUST BE REQUESTED from the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. Please call ( 601) 266- 4574 for more information.
Biography
Mr. Fred Winyard was born in Calcutta, India, on June 14, 1944. His father, Frederick Winyard, is a British subject born in Hong Kong. His mother, Florence Lee Winyard, is Chinese and was born in Shanghai. Winyard spent his first ten years in Calcutta and Hong Kong. He earned a bachelor's degree from Reed College in Oregon and a master's degree in economics from Berkeley. He currently owns a company that develops computer software. He is married to Nora Moses, and the couple have a daughter, Sara. While at Reed College, Winyard was recruited by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to work as a civil rights activist in Mississippi. His first assignment was in Holly Springs, where he volunteered to organize the " huge quantities" of books that had been donated through college book drives and oversee their packaging as self- contained libraries to be distributed throughout the state. Winyard began working in Clarksdale in late 1963 and continued through the beginning of 1964' s Freedom Summer, organizing Freedom Libraries, helping register voters, and lettering picket signs. During his time in Clarksdale, he lived in the home of Aaron Henry.
Transcript
This is an interview for the Mississippi Oral History Program of The University of Southern Mississippi. The interview is with Mr. Fred Winyard and is taking place by telephone on October 21, 1995. The interviewer is John Rachal. ( An initial brief segment of this phone conversation was not included in this typed transcript.) Rachal: So let me do a little bit of preliminary stuff first however. If I could ask you a few sort of demographic kinds of questions to provide us with a wee bit of biography on you. I believe I have a correct address of 5707 Rosario Way, Anacortes, Washington. Winyard: That's correct. Rachal: Is that correct? What was your date of birth, Fred?
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