Figures from the Movement, National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis
Focus Question:
What were the origins, goals, people and key events of the Civil Rights Movement?
Cross-Links
Download free iBook, The Road to Civil Rights from the Academy for Achievement
Lyrics of the Freedom Songs, written and sung at many marches and events from PBS' Soundtrack for a Revolution.
- Click here to listen to some of those songs.
Congressional Gold Medal (2003) recognizing Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine, Harry and Eliza Briggs and Levi Pearson.
See South Carolina Desegregation Heroes Receive Congressional Gold Medal (2004)
People
A. Robert Kennedy
B. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King
C. Thurgood Marshall and Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
D. Rosa Parks
African American Women Activists Before Rosa Parks
- Irene Morgan and Morgan V. Virginia (1946)
- Claudette Colvin and Browder v. Gayle (1956)
E. Malcolm X
F. The Black Panthers
Historical Biography: Bayard Rustin, Civil Rights and Gay Rights Activist
7 Women Civil Rights Leaders You Need to Know
- Ella Baker
- Daisy Bates
- Fannie Lou Hamer
- Dorothy Height
- Diane Nash
- Septima Poinsette Clark
- Jo Ann Robinson
- Claudette Colvin
People
Martin Luther King and the Global Struggle for Freedom.
- Biographies of more than 1000 people, events and organizations associated with civil rights and social justice
A. Robert Kennedy
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| Robert F. Kennedy, Cabinet Room, 1964 |
Robert Kennedy was the brother of President John F. Kennedy. His role in the Civil Rights Movement often goes unnoticed because of other leaders. Kennedy was instrumental in the movement, perhaps being the biggest involvement with the Freedom Rides. He was attorney general at the time.
For more information on the Kennedy administration and their practices during the Civil Rights Movement visit Kennedy and Civil Rights.
Robert Kennedy: Day of Affirmation Speech: audio of Robert Kennedy's 1966 speech to the National Union of South African Students in Cape Town. Speaks about the then-ongoing United States Civil Rights movement.
B. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the most well-known leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.
- Originally a Baptist minister, he took a leadership role in the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- In 1957, he helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil rights organization promoting the use of nonviolent direct action.
- King helped lead the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his well-known "I Have a Dream Speech."
- The following year, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his use of nonviolence to promote civil rights and racial equality. Dr. King was assassinated in 1968.
Interview on the Merv Griffin Show.
Martin Luther King Jr.: The Man and the Dream Documentary on the life of Martin Luther King Jr
Dr. King was the first president of the Southern Leadership Christian Conferences (SCLC) which was responsible for several Civil Rights campaigns. Click here for a video remembering 50 years of the SCLC.
Coretta Scott King, Oct. 2, 2004
After his assassination, Dr. King's wife, Coretta Scott King, became more prominent as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. She continued to spread his message of nonviolent protest, founding the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in 1981 in Atlanta.
In the late 1990s, she began to campaign for LGBT equality, citing it as a civil rights issue.
Coretta Scott King's 1996 speech at the Atlanta Gay Pride Festival details King's commitment to LGBT equality.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Education and Research Initiative has great resources on Martin Luther King, Jr and the Civil Rights Movement, including lesson plans, and primary and multimedia sources.
The accompanying materials to PBS's film "Citizen King" include maps, timelines, interviews, and footage of Dr. King speaking.
Smithsonian Learning Lab, resources for teaching the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and nonviolence.
Thurgood Marshall first came to prominence as one of the most accomplished African-American lawyers in the nation.
- In 1955 he won the landmark victory of Brown v. Board of Education, where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public schools must be desegregated.
- This decision reversed the longtime notion of "separate but equal" in public schools which had been the legal doctrine since the 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson.
What Was Brown V. Board of Education? NAACP Legal Fund
Brown v. Board of Education: Landmark Cases for Expanding Civil Rights
- Marshall's success as a lawyer led to his appointment as a federal judge by President John F. Kennedy, and eventually in 1967 he was chosen by President Lyndon Johnson to be the first African American Supreme Court justice.
- He served on the Supreme Court 24 years until 1991, and died in 1993.
See Marshall's life and accomplishments on this timeline.
For more about Thurgood Marshall, see here.
Equality Speech given by Thurgood Marshall in 1978 regarding the issue of whether or not Black Americans have achieved equality.
D. Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
Rosa Parks was a leader in the Civil Rights movement. Her willingness to engage in civil disobedience lead to real advances in African American civil rights, most notably the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- On December 1, 1955, she famously sat in the front of the bus, which had been reserved for white passengers and refused to give up her seat.
Visit here for a detailed biography of Rosa Parks.
Before the Bus, Rosa Parks Was a Sexual Assault Investigator
Visit here for the arrest records of Rosa Parks from the National Archives.
Rosa Parks Statute; Image by Lieske Leunissen-Ritzen
The Rebellious Lives of Rosa Parks, Zinn Education Project
African American Women Activists Before Rosa Parks
Ida B. Wells and Her Passion for Justice
Morgan v Virginia (1946)
- The Supreme Court struck down a Virginia law requiring racial segregation on commercial interstate buses
- Visit here for a lesson plan on the role of civil disobedience today.
- This lesson plan from Scholastic includes resources on Rosa Parks for grades 7-8.
civilrightspublicpolicy.docx
- The lesson plan above relates public policy to Women in the Civil Rights Movement.
Claudette Colvin and Browder v. Gayle (1956)
Before Rosa Parks other women refused to give up their seats as well.
- Claudette Colvin , a fifteen-year-old high school student, also refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus nine months before Rosa Parks.
- She was dragged from the bus and arrested by white police officers.
- Click here to learn about Claudette Colvin and the other women civil rights pioneers.
For more, link to Claudette Colvin: The 15-Year-Old Who Came Before Rosa Parks
- Click here for a rare interview with Claudette Colvin from Democracy now.
- Here is another video of Claudette Colvin talking about her experience during the Civil Rights movement
Browder v. Gayle The Women Before Rosa Parks
Browder v. Gayle Court Decision
- District Court ruled segregation on Alabama’s intrastate buses was unconstitutional
- U.S. Supreme Court had affirmed the District Court’s decision
- On December 17, 1956, the Supreme Court rejected city and state appeals to reconsider their decision in the case, and three days later the order for integrated buses arrived in Montgomery, ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott
E. Malcolm X
Malcolm X was a controversial leader in the Civil Rights movement.
He promoted a message sometimes viewed as contrary to that of Martin Luther King Jr.
Malcolm X was all about equality by any means necessary for African Americans.
He revoked his given name, Malcolm Little, replacing it with X to represent his unknown true slave name. X was a converted Muslim who spent much of his early years of preaching promoting the religion and his mentor, Elijah Muhammed. Malcolm X after his Islamic pilgrimage decided to leave Muhammed and the Nation Of Islam (not the religion itself). He came back and began to preach for equality of all races and not just African Americans.
The Nation of Islam did not take kindly to this and assassinated him on February 21, 1965. His legacy has lasted for decades now and his message his still heard. He is especially well-known for his autobiography, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which was dictated to writer Alex Haley.
A fantastic website about Malcolm X highlighted by famous quotes of his, testimonials from him, as well as various documentaries about his life, Brother Malcolm.
"Malcom X" by Carlos Latuff (2007)
Quotes from the Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Malcolm X: The Ballot or the Bullet (April 3, 1964)
Multimedia Malcolm X Resources:
A full-length PBS documentary on Malcolm X. Malcolm X Documentary.
Compilation of Malcolm X Speeches and Interviews, 1960-1965.
Malcolm X: 1963 City Desk Interview Famous interview given by Malcolm X in 1963 on the Chicago TV show City Desk. Explains the changing of his name and the rejection of African American "slave names".
F. Black Panthers
1966 witnessed the genesis of the Black Panther Movement. Huey Newton and Bobby Seale integrated the philosophy of Self-Defence for which Malcolm X was famous.
- The Black Panthers were a militant organization against the U.S government, which they perceived as the foundation to blame for social injustice. They fought for radical socialism and social justice against the police.
- Though the party galvanized support from radical socialists and progressives across the nation, the members of the party were targeted and proclaimed enemies to the state due to their "violent" nature.
- J.Edgar Hoover stated in 1969 that the Black Panthers were "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country." Party members like Bobby Hutton, age 17, were targeted and killed by the police.
Click here for the detailed chronology of the Black Panther movement.
The Ten Point Program- or the Black Panther mission statement.
The Rules of the Black Panther Party
The Black Panthers Advocated:
- Marxist Ideology outlined by Malcolm X
- Black citizens arming themselves with guns to protect/defend themselves from police brutality.
- The end to racist police brutality
- Dialectical Materialism
- Equal Rights for Black citizens
- Better housing for black citizens
- Better education for black citizens
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