Virginia Chute freedom school papers

Virginia (Vicki) Chute was born in Portland, Maine and earned a BA and MA at the University of Maine. She was married to Robert Chute, Professor Emeritus of Biology at Bates College. Mrs. Chute tutored college students in California and Pennsylvania and taught introductory philosophy at Bates College. She and her husband edited and published "Plowshare," a peace newsletter and "The Small Pond," a literary magazine. Mrs. Chute also wrote a novel, "The Remembrances of Marietta Lufford."

In the summer of 1964 Virginia Chute spent several weeks in Mississippi as part of the Freedom Summer civil rights project, a massive effort that focused on voter registration drives and educating Mississippi students for social change. It was coordinated by the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and included other organizations such as the SNCC, CORE, NAACP, and SCLC. Shortly after Mrs. Chute returned to Maine the freedom school where she had taught burned to the ground. Some of the funds to rebuild the school were raised by the presentation of her play, "Set on Freedom," which was performed at Bates College in April, 1965.