Freedom Summer 1964 was a movement led by young people. They completely transformed the course of history through their courageous advocacy and tireless efforts to register Black voters in Mississippi barred from voting by Jim Crow laws. Civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner paid the ultimate price.  They were mercilessly murdered by Ku Klux Klan members, including local law enforcement. Dr. Roger Barnes, UIW Professor Emeritus in Sociology, will present on what led to this tragedy that became a turning point for national support for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. 

Date & Time: February 25, 2026  12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Location: Joeris Ballroom 1

Registration link: https://givepul.se/bj9tf3

Bio of Roger Barnes 

Roger C. Barnes, Ph.D., was professor of sociology at the University of the Incarnate Word. He retired in May, 2021.  He chaired the Department of Sociology and taught criminology, sociological theory, sociology of the death penalty, social stratification, social history of the Civil Rights Movement, and social history of the Holocaust. His writings on the death penalty, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Holocaust have appeared in numerous journals, edited books, and newspapers.

Dr. Barnes was the first recipient of the UIW Presidential Teaching Award. He served as the University’s Moody Professor and received the CCVI Spirit Award and the Robert Connelly Award for Faculty Leadership. He is a past president of the UIW Faculty Senate.

He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Kansas, where he also received two master’s degrees and his doctoral degree.  His wife, Dr. Karin Barnes, is retired from the faculty of the Department of Occupational Therapy at UT Health San Antonio.  Their daughter, Ingrid Barnes, is a graduate of Tulane University and UT Law School.  She lives with her husband, an attorney, and two children, and practices immigration law in Dallas. 

Dr. Barnes was made professor emeritus of sociology upon retirement