Primary Source Spotlight: Bayard Rustin

Primary Source Spotlight: Bayard Rustin

Bayard Rustin was an openly gay civil rights activist, social reformer, pacifist, AIDS activist, and author. He was the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. Bayard Rustin photos Bayard Rustin historical newspaper coverage from 1942 Race, Religion, and Nationalism — Basic Problems of World Peace 1943 Institute of International Relations 1949 The Application…

Today in History: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Today in History: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Today in History–August 28–the Library of Congress features the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, held on this day in 1963. Around a quarter million people participated in this non-violent demonstration for civil rights seeking, among other things, equal access to public accommodations, decent housing, adequate and integrated education, the right to vote, and…

Primary Source Spotlight: A. Philip Randolph

Primary Source Spotlight: A. Philip Randolph

Leading the procession from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial More A. Philip Randolph images A. Philip Randolph historical newspaper coverage The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters A. Philip Randolph letter to NAACP Secretary Walter White March 18, 1941 The Negro in National Defense 1941 poster Why Should We March? 1941 flyer Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of…

Collections Spotlight: Civil Rights History Project

Collections Spotlight: Civil Rights History Project

The Civil Rights History Project collection is a direct result of the 2009 Civil Rights History Project Act. This law mandated the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) to conduct a survey of existing civil rights oral-history collections and enhance these collections by recording new interviews with…