Invited to the White House
John Atkins recalls going to the White House, when President Lyndon B. Johnson invited him and a delegation of two hundred other college representatives for a visit in October 1964.
Interview on 2011-06-14 00:00:00 -0400
Transcript
00:00:00
Well that was-it's a very high honor.
00:00:08
You were invited to the White House, got to go to the White House and you got to meet the President,
00:00:13
got to have some dialogue with the President.
00:00:16
There were forums that dealt with what was on students' minds and what's going on on student campuses.
00:00:23
We were entertained, we were well fed, and so it was a great experience.
00:00:32
And it's not to take anything away from the experience or what the event was about
00:00:38
but I think it's like many of those, and so it's the President had student leaders across America in and so forth.
00:00:47
Did it have a lasting effect? I don't know. Did it have a follow up? No, not of any consequence, but it still was-.
00:00:55
I mean, you know, here's a little guy from Durham who just happened to be in the right place at the right time to be invited to the White House. That's a pretty big deal.
This video is an excerpt from a longer interview. Contact the Special Collections Research Center to request the transcript of the full interview.
