Ed Hamlett Papers
1954-1988
Biographical Note
Hamlett was born on the 29th of May, 1939 in Fulton, Kentucky. During his education at the University of Tennessee, the number of white southerners involved in the civil
rights movement impressed Ed, and thus he began a longstanding interest in social activism. An active citizen in the politics of the South, Ed participated in various
organizations aimed at equality during the 1960’s. In 1963 Ed opted out of a graduate program in sociology to instead help manage SSOC, an offshoot of SNCC. Ed and others
associated with the SSOC sought to draw attention to (with the hope of sustaining) structural and economic change for the minorities while highlighting the racial
inequalities of the United States. Additional goals for the SSOC included working for peace, academic freedom and civil liberties. He was an active member of the SSOC,
but he also contributed to its associate groups including the White Folks Project (WFP), the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), Women’s Equality at Vanderbilt
(WEAV), and others. He attended conferences, workshops, organized demonstrations, wrote and thereby cultivated a wealth of materials during this explosive time in the
history of the United States. The Ed Hamlett Papers contain a wealth of resources related to the civil rights protests of the 1960’s which sought to redefine the social
landscape of the South and of the larger United States.
With the gradual dissolution of most of these groups after a decade, Ed sought an alternative career path. He spent some time at the Vanderbilt Divinity School in 1971,
and then obtained his certification for nursing. In June of 1976 Ed graduated from the nursing program at the University of Tennessee at Nashville, and went to work at
Vanderbilt University Hospital in psychiatric nursing.
A Chronology of Ed Hamlett’s Life
- 1939: May 29 Born in Fulton, Kentucky.
- 1945-1950: Whitehall Elementary School and then Carr Institute Elementary School.
- 1951-1954: Jackson Junior High School.
- 1954-1957: Jackson High School.
- 1957-1958: Attends Union University in Jackson TN.
- 1959-1961: Attends George Washington University in Washington D.C.
- 1962: Spends one year at University of TN, Knoxville TN.
- 1963: Graduates from Union University in June with a B.A. in History and Sociology.
- 1963: (Fall) enters Southern Illinois University Graduate School of Sociology, then, dissatisfied with the graduate program leaves after one quarter.
- 1964: Feb. Directs energies toward the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
- 1964-1966: SNCC director of the White Southern Students Project (WSSP), later known as the White Folks Project (WFP), in association with Mississippi Freedom Summer.
- 1964: (February). Works at Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) office in preparation for the WFP orientations in Ohio and TN.
- 1965-1966: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) national council member.
- 1967: Institute for Policy Studies student. In spring begins work with Southern Students Organizing Committee (SSOC).
- 1967-1968: SSOC Executive Committee member.
- 1968: (summer): works for the Community of Performing Arts (COPA).
- 1969: (March). Begins work for Tennessee Council on Human Relations in March.
- 1971: Enters Vanderbilt Divinity School, and then leaves after a year.
- 1972: (November). Begins work as psychiatric technician for Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
- 1974: Begins nursing school at the University of TN.
- 1976: (June). Ed graduates from the nursing program at the University of TN at Nashville, and he goes to work at Vanderbilt University Hospital.
- 1979: (July). Marries Linda Wilson.
- 1979: Attempt (unsuccessful) to organize a Union at Vanderbilt Hospital.
- 1980: Staff Nurse of the Year for Tennessee Nursing Association.
- 1982: (January). Chip Hamlett born.
- 1986: (December). Andrew Hamlett born.
- 1998: Ed retires from Vanderbilt Nursing.
- Currently: Retired, but working part time in home health nursing.
Overview | Biographical Note | Complete Finding Aid (pdf)
Series I-VI Listing | Series VII-XII Listing | Series XIII-XIX Listing
Special Collections | Heard
Library | Vanderbilt University
Copyright © Special Collections, Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt
University
Last modified: April 10, 2008
For more information, contact us at: <
>