American Democracy & the Rule of Law: Why Every Vote Matters
As part of Law Day 2014, Jeffrey Rosen discusses American democracy and the rule of law in commemoration of the impending 50th anniversaries of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Bayard Rustin Papers
An examination of Bayard Rustin's involvement in the Civil Rights movement. Rustin (1912-1987) was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.
The Bill of the Century: A Literary Discussion with Clay Risen
Clay Risen discusses his book "The Bill of the Century: The Epic Struggle for the Civil Rights Act" (2014).
Civil Rights Act Exhibition Opening Program
The opening ceremony of the Library exhibition, "The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom," which explores the events that shaped the civil rights movement, as well as the far-reaching impact the act had on a changing society. The act is considered the most significant piece of civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in voting, public accommodations, public facilities, public education, federally funded programs, and employment.
Congressman John Lewis: "March II"
Congressman John Lewis discussed his life and work in the Civil Rights movement with 6th and 7th grade students from the School Without Walls at Francis Stevens in Washington, D.C. as part of a presentation about the second book in his graphic novel series co-written by Andrew Aydin, "March II". Lewis and Aydin described the genesis of this book series and Lewis gave a dramatic summary of the book and his life.
A Day Like No Other: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who was a young civil-rights leader in 1963, opened the photo exhibition "A Day Like No Other: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington" at the Library of Congress.
Documenting the Freedom Struggle in Southwest Georgia
Glen Pearcy and David Cline discuss Pearcy's documentary work with the Southwest Georgia Project, which documented local people at work and in their homes during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
Ethel Payne, First Lady of the Black Press
James McGrath Morris discussed his new book "Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press." Payne was a journalist as a reporter for the Chicago Defender. In those pages, she continually urged President Dwight D. Eisenhower to support desegregation. She continued throughout her career to report on the struggles of the civil rights era, and her work is credited with persuading many African Americans to take up the cause.
50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act
Rep. Donna Edwards visits the Library to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act
A commemorative look at one of the most important pieces of legislation of the civil rights movement: the Voting Rights Act of 1965, with Congresswoman Alma Adams.
Freedom Now: Jazz & the Civil Rights Movement
Library of Congress jazz scholar Dan Morgenstern discusses the role of jazz music throughout the Civil Rights movement in the 20th century.
Freedom
Writer: Virginia Foster Durr, Letters from the Civil Rights
Years
Patricia Sullivan discussed her book Freedom Writer:
Virginia Foster Durr, Letters from The Civil Rights Years
in a program sponsored by the Library's John W. Kluge
Center.
Hugo
Black of Alabama: How His Roots and Early Career Shaped
the Great Champion of the Constitution
Steve Suitts discussed his book Hugo Black of Alabama:
How His Roots and Early Career Shaped the Great Champion
of the Constitution.
James Meredith & the Ole Miss Riot
In September 1962, James Meredith became the first African American admitted to the University of Mississippi. A milestone in the civil rights movement, his admission triggered a riot spurred by a mob of 3,000 whites from across the South and all-but- officially stoked by the state's segregationist authorities. The escalating conflict prompted President John F. Kennedy to send in 20,000 regular Army troops, in addition to federalized Mississippi National Guard soldiers, to restore law and order. "James Meredith and the Ole Miss Riot" is the memoir of one of the participants, a young Army second lieutenant named Henry T. Gallagher, born and raised in Minnesota.
John
Hope Franklin: Where Do We Go from Here?
Distinguished historian John Hope Franklin, recipient
of the 2006 John W. Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanity,
discussed the history of the African-American experience
and poses the question, "Where Do We Go from Here?"
In a frank and honest discussion, he used his personal
experiences to examine the successes and failures of race
relations in America.
Law Day 2013: The Movement in America for Civil and Human Rights
Carrie Johnson moderated a panel discussion on the movement in America for civil and human rights and the impact it has had in promoting the ideal of equality under the law. This year's national Law Day theme, "Realizing the Dream: Equality for All" marked the 150th anniversary of the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th anniversary of the Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Speakers included Carrie Johnson, National Public Radio; Theodore M. Shaw, Columbia University School of Law; Jeffrey Rosen, George Washington University; Risa L. Goluboff, University of Virginia; and Kirk Rascoe of the Library of Congress.
Locality & Nation: Civil Rights & Voting Rights in the Deep South, 1963-1966
Thomas Jackson and Hasan Kwame Jeffries discuss the hard work of grass roots organizing of the civil rights movement that is often overlooked in histories. How well did national civil rights and voting legislation support their drive for authentic democracy and economic empowerment? Scholars uncover the lessons local organizers learned in the struggle against white violence and entrenched power in the Deep South.
Loren Miller: Civil Rights Attorney and Journalist
Amina Hassan discussed her new book, "Loren Miller: Civil Rights Attorney and Journalist." Loren Miller was one of the nation's most prominent civil-rights attorneys from the 1940s through the early 1960s. He successfully fought discrimination in housing and education. Alongside Thurgood Marshall, Miller argued two landmark civil-rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, leading to decisions that effectively abolished racially restrictive housing covenants. The two men played key roles in Brown v. Board of Education, which ended legal segregation in public schools.
A
Matter of Law: A Memoir of Struggle in the Cause of Equal
Rights
Judge Robert L. Carter, an intellectual architect for
the civil rights movement and the man who argued the 1954
Brown v. Board of Education case before the Supreme Court,
discussed his recently published memoir, A Matter
of Law: A Memoir of Struggle in the Cause of Equal Rights.
North of Dixie: Civil Rights Photography Beyond the South
Iconic images of the civil rights movement were largely photographed in the South. In a new volume of extraordinary photographs, historian Mark Speltz focuses on compelling civil rights images from north of the Mason-Dixon line, in places such as Philadelphia, Cleveland and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Observance of the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Voter Rights Act
A special program commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, specifically the Voter Rights Act of 1965 with Rep. Terri Sewell.
Our Auntie Rosa: The Family of Rosa Parks Remembers Her Life & Lessons
Sheila McCauley Keys discussed her memoir, "Our Auntie Rosa: The Family of Rosa Parks Remembers Her Life and Lessons," covering both the public and private lives of the Civil Rights icon.
Reflections on Memory & History: Collecting New Oral Histories of the Civil Rights Movement
A half-century on, what remains to be learned of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement? Plenty, it turns out. Last year historian Joe Mosnier, together with videographer John Bishop, journeyed to twenty states to interview fifty individuals who, most as teenagers or young adults, gave themselves over to the civil rights struggle. This testimony -- urgent and immediate, but also refracted by memory and time -- compels a fresh look at "the movement," confirming, upending, and reaching entirely beyond the considerations that define the received civil rights narrative. Mosnier shares video excerpts, discusses emerging insights in relation to civil rights historiography, and offers brief personal reflections on the complex emotions engendered by the oral history experience for both interviewee and interviewer.
Remembering Our Father: The Story of M. Carl Holman
The 2009 theme for African American History Month was Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas. This year's celebration coincides with the centenary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The Library holds more than 5 million records of the NAACP, which is the largest single collection ever acquired by the institution. Kinshasha Holman-Conwill, Kwasi Holman and Kwame Holman shared remembrances of their father's quest for black citizenship as an American civil rights leader and as the president of the National Urban Coalition.
Representing the Race: The Creation of the Civil Rights Lawyer
Through the stories of such figures as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, author Kenneth W. Mack brings to life African-American legal practice across the nation during the civil rights movement. According to Mack, Marshall rose to prominence by convincing local blacks and prominent whites that he was -- as nearly as possible -- one of them. In addition to Marshall, Mack introduces readers to a little-known cast of other characters important to this narrative.
Rosa Parks Collection: Telling Her Story at the Library of Congress
Highlights of the collection of Rosa Parks, a seminal figure of the Civil Rights Movement, on loan to the Library from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation for 10 years. The collection is now available online.
Selma, the Voting Rights Act & Reel History
Gary May finds himself among several scholars who think the film Selma is seriously flawed. He explores the significance and continuing importance of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, includes a critique of how the stories behind the Act are framed in the Hollywood lens and raises questions as to what such re-presentations mean for teaching and learning about history.
Teaching the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Join the Library of Congress education and newspaper experts to learn about the digitized historic newspapers available through the Chronicling America program. Explore teaching strategies for using the materials with students.
Teaching the Civil Rights Movement from the Bottom-Up 50 Years After the Voting Rights Act
This presentation will highlight bottom-up movement history and the ways it introduces students to a wider range of tactics and to a history that begins before the big marches and extends after the passage of landmark legislation.
This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer
Michelle Martin interviews Robin Hamilton about her film "This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer" (2015), a documentary short that explores the life of an impoverished sharecropper who became a powerhouse in the battle for the right to vote in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement.
This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible
Writer and journalist Charles Cobb discusses his new book, "This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible."
A Time to Act: John F. Kennedy's Big Speech
Author Shana Corey honors the 54th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's historic civil rights speech with her book, "A Time To Act: John F. Kennedy's Big Speech."
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March
Lynda Blackmon Lowery described her role as the youngest member of the Selma, Alabama Civil Rights March in 1965. Along with her co-authors, Susan Buckley and Elspeth Leacock, Lowery recounted her childhood during this period, and discussed the background of events that led to his landmark action. The authors showed illustrations and photographs from their book as well as primary sources, including original film footage, from the period.
We Had Sneakers, They Had Guns: The Kids Who Fought for Civil Rights in Mississippi
As an illustrator and journalist, Tracy Sugarman covered the nearly one thousand student volunteers who traveled to the Mississippi Delta to assist black citizens in the South in registering to vote. Two white students and one black student were slain in the struggle, many were beaten and hundreds arrested, and churches and homes were burned to the ground by the opponents of equality. Yet the example of Freedom Summer resonated across the nation. The U.S. Congress was finally moved to pass the civil rights legislation that enfranchised millions of black Americans.
Blending oral history with memoir, "We Had Sneakers, They Had Guns" chronicles the sacrifices, tragedies and triumphs of that unprecedented moment in American history.
"We Must Learn to Think in Terms of Collective Action:" Industrial Democracy and the Civil Rights Establishment of the 1930s
Toure F. Reed examines the influence of labor activism on the civil rights agendas of the NAACP and National Urban League and challenges presumptions about the ideological orientations of these important civil rights organizations. Reed describes how mainstream civil rights activists of the 1930s and 1940s began to perceive racial discrimination as an outgrowth of class exploitation as they were pushed to the left by New Deal labor law and working-class political movements.
Women Who Dare
The seven authors of the Library of Congress "Women Who Dare" series, which celebrates the lives of remarkable women who have shaped American history, discussed their books in a program sponsored by the Library's Center for the Book. The "Women Who Dare" series focuses on women who have changed the course of American history through their courage and spirit, often in the face of overwhelming circumstances. The six books and their authors are "Women of the Suffrage Movement" by Janice E. Ruth and Evelyn Sinclair, "Women of the Civil War" by Michelle A. Krowl, "Helen Keller" by Aimee Hess, "Amelia Earhart" by Susan Reyburn, "Eleanor Roosevelt" by Anjelina Michelle Keating and "Women of the Civil Rights Movement" by Linda Barrett Osborne.
National Book Festival Webcasts
Dorothy
Height: 2004 National Book Festival
Dorothy Height discusses her new book Open Wide the
Freedom Gate at the National Book Festival.
Juan
Williams: 2003 National Book Festival
Juan Williams is senior national correspondent for National
Public Radio, contributing political analyst for the Fox
News Channel. Recipient of an Emmy Award for TV documentary
writing, he is the author of several books including the
bestseller, Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights
Years, 1954-1965. His most recent book is This
Far by Faith: Stories from the African-American Religious
Experience.
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