Sarah Elbert was born in New York to a mixed-race family on 5 January 1936 . She attended Cornell University , earning a B.A. magna cum laude with honors in history in 1965 , despite becoming a single mother the year previously . She completed all of her graduate work at Cornell as well , earning a M.A. in teaching in 1966 , a master 's degree in history in 1968 , and a Ph.D. in history in 1974 . While in graduate school Elbert participated in Students for a Democratic Society , the Union for Radical Political Economics and the Congress of Racial Equality as well as protesting against the Vietnam War . She later made a documentary film on the week of the 1968 Democratic National Convention entitled , '' The Streets Belong to the People ''
1968 Democratic National Convention
1968 Democratic National Convention
Sarah Elbert