Vivian Rothstein (called "Chicky" in this letter from her father) was born in New York to German Jewish parents who fled Nazi Germany. She was raised in Los Angeles and attended UC Berkeley where she became involved in civil rights campaigns in the Bay Area. She was recruited to the Mississippi Freedom Summer program in 1964 and, after 10 days in jail with several hundred others for parading without a permit in Jackson, Mississippi, was assigned to work with the Freedom Democratic Party in Leake County. The Civil Rights Movement set her on a course of community organizing which led to involvement in the anti-war, women's liberation, and economic justice movements. Today Rothstein works with the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy in efforts to end low wage poverty in Southern California.

1. What is the father's concern about what Vivian has chosen to do? Knowing what you know about Freedom Summer, do you think her father is justified? Why or why not?
2. How do you think Vivian understands her father's concern? What is your evidence?
3. How do you think Vivian's father really feels about her choice? What is your evidence?
4. If you were a parent of a child going to Mississippi during the summer of 1964, how do you think you would have felt? What actions might you have taken as a result of your feelings?