Interview with Joan Gerig

Authors

Jessica Peoples, Columbia College Chicago

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2009

Keywords

Mennonite Church, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Civil rights movements, Prexy Nesbitt, Botswana, Coalition for Illinois' Divestment from South Africa, Church of the Brethren in South Africa, Steve Biko, Steve, Nelson Mandela, African National Congress, Soweto Uprising, Lois Lenski

Disciplines

Political Science | Political Theory | Race and Ethnicity | Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies | Work, Economy and Organizations

Abstract

Length: 192 minutes

Oral history interview of Joan Gerig by Jessica Peoples

Gerig begins by describing her radicalization in Botswana between 1977 and 1980 when she lived and built correspondence schools for South African refugees fleeing Soweto after the Uprising of 1976. She explains how, upon returning to the U.S., she became a liaison between the religious community and the anti-apartheid movement. She details her role in organizing the annual “Standing for the Truth” campaign. She also mentions her participation in coalitions such as CCIDSA, CCISSA, the Mozambique Solidarity Network, the Church of the Brethren in South Africa Network, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America South Africa Network, and Church World Service, as well her role as co-founder of Synapsis Inc.

Biography and Comments

Joan Gerig was born in southeast Iowa in 1946 where she grew up with her parents and younger sisters in a farming community. A member of the Mennonite church, she later enrolled in Heston College and two Christian-affiliated colleges in Neosho, Indiana, where she earned a degree in education. Over the years, Gerig taught in St. Louis, Mississippi, Nigeria, and Botswana. She learned about the South African apartheid regime while in Botswana, which led to her involvement in the struggle in Canada and the United States. Joan Gerig and her husband, Orlando Redekopp, were both active in Chicago anti-apartheid work.

The interviewer conducted this oral history as part of his/her coursework for the Spring 2009 class, Oral History: The Art of the Interview. This interview supports the scope and content of the Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement Collection at the College Archives & Special Collections department of Columbia College Chicago. Contact archives@colum.edu for more information and to view the collection.

Recommended Citation

Peoples, Jessica. "Interview with Joan Gerig" (Spring 2009). Oral Histories, Chicago Anti-Apartheid Collection, College Archives & Special Collections, Columbia College Chicago. http://digitalcommons.colum.edu/cadc_caam_oralhistories/18

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