Civil Rights Movement
The African American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s fundamentally reshaped American society and politics. Black activists and their white allies fought in the courts and in the streets to force their country to live up to its professed ideals. The major events of the movement, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56 and the March on Washington in 1963 have become embedded in American lore. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were direct results of civil rights activism. Behind these accomplishments were local people who often risked their jobs and their lives to force change in their communities.
The names below represent a vibrant cross section of the people who led and participated in the civil rights movement, as well as many who worked to stop it. You might begin by reading about famous national figures like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, then move to the lesser known but equally important local protestors like Fannie Lou Hamer, Fred Shuttlesworth, and Fred Hampton. What do we learn by contrasting the textbook story of the civil rights movement with the lived experiences of its participants? Learn about the Brown decision that outlawed separate-but-equal in schools through the lives of the activists, attorneys, and judges who made it possible. How did World War II and the Cold War shape the Brown decision and the movement as a whole? Think about the differences and similarities between the nonviolent civil rights movement and more militant Black Power activists. Consider how the era's major politicians advanced or blocked the goals of the movement. And, in the end, what did the civil rights movement fail to accomplish?
Activism during the New Deal, World War II, and the Cold War
- Marion Anderson, contralto
- Melvin Ovenus Alston, educator
- Mary McCleod Bethune, organizer of Black women and advocate for social justice
- Charlotta Spears Bass, editor and civil rights activist
- Ossie Davis, actor, playwright, author, director, civil rights activist, and humanitarian
- Ruby Dee, actor, author, and civil rights activist
- Dorothy Height, social worker and civil rights and women's activist
- Benjamin Elijah Mays, educator, college president, and civil rights activist
- Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., minister and congressman
- A. Philip Randolph, founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and civil rights leader
- Paul Robeson, actor, singer, and civil rights activist
- Jackie Robinson, baseball player
- Lillian Smith, essayist, novelist, and social critic
- Mary Eliza Church Terrell, educator and social activist
- Dorothy Tilly, civil rights reformer
The Brown decision
- Horace Mann Bond, college professor and administrator
- William Brennan, Supreme Court justice
- Hugo Black, Supreme Court justice and senator
- Kenneth Bancroft Clark, psychologist and social reformer
- Mamie Clark, psychologist and community mental health pioneer
- William O. Douglas, Supreme Court justice, New Deal administrator, and environmentalist
- Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, civil rights pioneer, lawyer, and educator
- Felix Frankfurter, Supreme Court justice
- Charles Hamilton Houston, lawyer and professor
- Otto Klineberg, psychologist
- Thurgood Marshall, civil rights lawyer and Supreme Court justice
- Constance Baker Motley, civil rights lawyer, politician, and judge
- Earl Warren, chief justice of the Supreme Court, governor of California, and attorney general of California
Leaders and Activists during the 1950s and 1960s
- Ralph David Abernathy, civil rights leader and minister
- Maya Angelou, writer, performer, and activist
- Ella Josephine Baker, civil rights organizer
- Amiri Baraka, poet, playwright, writer, and political activist
- Unita Blackwell, civil rights activist and the first Black woman mayor in Mississipi
- Anne Braden, civil rights activist and journalist
- Carl James Braden, journalist and social justice advocate
- Mamie Till Bradley, advocate for racial justice
- Stokely Carmichael, civil rights leader
- Septima Poinsette Clark, educator and civil rights activist
- Aaron Henry, civil rights activist, politician, and pharmacist
- Virginia Foster Durr, civil rights activist
- Medgar Evers, civil rights activist
- James Farmer, civil rights activist and educator
- Milton Galamison, Presbyterian minister, civil rights leader, and community activist
- Fannie Lou Hamer, civil rights activist
- Fred Hampton, Black power and civil rights activist
- Vivian Malone Jones, civil rights activist
- Coretta Scott King, human rights advocate and peace activist
- Martin Luther King, Jr., Baptist minister and civil rights leader
- Malcolm X, African American religious and political leader
- Huey P. Newton, leader of the Black Panther Party
- Rosa Parks, civil rights activist
- Amelia Boynton Robinson, civil rights activist
- Jo Ann Robinson, educator and civil rights leader
- Bayard Rustin, civil rights leader and political activist
- Fred L. Shuttlesworth, civil rights activist
- Emmett Louis Till, victim of racial violence
- Hosea Williams, civil rights activist, minister, and politician
- Robert Franklin Williams, civil rights activist
- Roy Wilkins, civil rights organization executive
- Whitney Young, Jr., social worker and civil rights activist
Presidents and Politicians
- Dwight David Eisenhower, U.S. Army General and thirty-fourth president of the United States
- Lyndon Baines Johnson, thirty-sixth president of the United States
- John F. Kennedy, thirty-fifth president of the United States
- Robert F. Kennedy, politician
White Resistance
- Ross Barnett, governor of Mississippi
- Bull Connor, city commissioner and symbol of southern resistance to race reform
- James Eastland, U.S. senator
- Orval Faubus, publisher and governor of Arkansas
- Jesse Helms, U.S. senator and conservative ideologue
- J. Strom Thurmond, governor, U.S. senator, and presidential candidate
- George Wallace, politician
Overview Articles
Organizations
- American Indian Movement (AIM)
- Black Panthers
- Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
- Ku Klux Klan
- Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP)
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
- National Urban League
- Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
- Student Non-Violent Coordinationg Committee (SNCC)
Racism, Crime, and Violence
Segregation and the Law
- Affirmative Action
- Brown v. Board of Education
- Fourteenth Amendment
- Plessy v. Ferguson
- Segregation, Racial