Civil Rights Era
Audio and Video Archive
Introduction
Interview with Manning Marable and Leith Mullings
Section 1
President John F. Kennedy addresses the nation after the University of Alabama denies admission to two black students
Former Arkansas Governor Orvil Faubus reflects on the crisis of Little Rock's integration in September 1957
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Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court Justice, discusses his 1967 appointment
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Psychologist Kenneth Clark discusses his research finding that young black children showed a preference for white dolls by age 3 and how segregation was detrimental to the education and self-esteem of black children. His expert testimony was used by NAACP lawyers to argue against school segregation in the 1954 landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education.
Section 2
Mamie Bradley describes the moment when she first saw her son's mutilated corpse arrive in Chicago in September 1955. This excerpt is part of Amy Goodman's interview of filmmaker Keith Beauchamp (Democracy Now), June 15, 2005.
(Images may be disturbing to a young audience.)
Section 3
Martin Luther King Jr. honors Rosa Parks at a church in 1966
Martin Luther King Jr. is interviewed by a reporter at the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott c. December 1965
Film footage showing empty buses and black commuters piling into cars during the Montgomery bus boycott (no sound)
Martin Luther King Jr. delivers a speech, on behalf of the MIA, announcing the Supreme Court's decision ending segregated busing, November 1956
"If You Miss Me from the Back of the Bus." As the Civil Rights Movement made gains throughout the South in desegregating public transportation and services, this song became a testament to overcoming the entrenched segregation system
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Section 4
"Turn Me Round." This traditional song was first used during the summer of 1962 in Albany, Georgia. After a judge issued an injunction banning demonstrations, activists at a mass meeting sang, "Ain't gonna let no injunction turn me 'round."
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Section 5
The Birmingham riots. Blacks are treated violently by police, who open fire hydrants and spray demonstrators, as they make arrests, May 15, 1963
"Oh Freedom." With roots in slave spirituals, blues and gospel, the freedom songs of the Civil Rights Movement emerged as a tool for mobilizing and organizing people for protest. "Oh Freedom" became a quintessential symbol for the 1964 Freedom Summer.
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"We Shall Overcome." A traditional spiritual, "We Shall Overcome," was utilized as a song to protest racism and segregation.
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Section 6
Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington, Aug. 29, 1963
"We're Marching On To Freedom Land." A traditional spiritual, Marching…, was a particularly important song during Civil Rights protests.
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Section 7
Fannie Lou Hamer, civil rights leader, tells a Washington, DC, news conference about her experience being shot during a voter registration drive in Montgomery, July 8, 1964
Mario Savio, leader of the Free Speech movement at Berkeley, reflects on his experiences in Mississippi Freedom Summer, 1964.
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Section 8
Malcolm X discusses racism, no date
Malcolm X explains the meaning of the term "Negro," no date
Bobby Bowen discusses the impact of reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X.
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Section 9
Lester Maddox, Georgia Governor (1967–71), criticizes civil rights activists and supports segregation, no date
The funeral procession and family of Medgar Evers, June 14, 1963
"Ballad of Medgar Evers." In this haunting eulogy ballad, the SNCC Freedom Singers pay tribute to the courageous civil rights activities of slain NAACP leader Medgar Evers.
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Section 10
Burning buildings as a result of race riots in Washington, DC, July 24, 1967
Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his famous "I've been to the mountaintop and I've seen the promised land" speech on April 3, 1968, the day before his assassination
The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968, and an eyewitness account by Rev. Jesse Jackson
"We Shall Overcome." A traditional spiritual, "We Shall Overcome," was utilized as a song to protest racism and segregation.
Play audio | Download mp3 file (2.9 MB)
Section 11
Olympic champions Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise their fists in the Black Power salute at the 1968 Summer Olympics
A series of shots of Angela Davis in court, in northern California in early 1970s (no sound)
Bobby Seale, co-chair of the Black Panther Party, reads the party's Ten Point platform at a rally to protest the incarceration of Huey Newton.
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Section 14
Chisholm addresses the black caucus, in Miami Beach, in preparation for the 1972 Democratic Convention
Shirley Chisholm, Presidential Candidate, delivers speech at Columbia University's Teachers College, highlighting civil rights advances, February 18, 1972
Conclusion
Barbara Jordan, representative from Texas on the House Judiciary Committee, gives an eloquent speech on the meaning of "We the People" as the impeachment hearings of President Nixon begin, July 25, 1974
Barbara Jordan, representative from Texas, gives the keynote address at the 1976 Democratic National Convention. She discusses major challenges and confidence in the future, July 12, 1976
Barbara Jordan's keynote address (segment 2)
Barbara Jordan's keynote address (segment 3)