My soul is a witness : a chronology of the civil rights era in the United States, 1954-1965 / Bettye Collier-Thomas and V.P. Franklin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Collier-Thomas, Bettye.

Contributor:

Franklin, V. P. (Vincent P.), 1947-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans--Civil rights--History--20th century--Chronology.

African Americans.

Civil rights movements--United States--History--20th century--Chronology.

Civil rights movements.

History.

African Americans--Civil rights.

United States.

Genre:

Chronologies.

Physical Description:

xvii, 268 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Henry Holt, 2000.

Summary:

From the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, in which legal segregation in public schools was declared unconstitutional, the Nashville sit-ins, and the Freedom Rides to the March on Washington, Bloody Sunday, the march from Selma to Montgomery, and the subsequent passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965--and everything in between--My Soul Is a Witness is the first comprehensive book-length chronology of the civil rights era in America.

My Soul Is a Witness extends the examination of civil rights activities between 1954 and 1965 beyond the southern states to include the rest of the country. Although Martin Luther King, Jr., was a central towering figure of the era, this volume shifts the focus to the thousands of people, places, and events that the Civil Rights Movement encompassed. And while the movement began in the arena of education, My Soul Is a Witness covers events in the areas of employment, public accommodations, housing, voting rights, religion, entertainment, sports, and the military.

Contents:

1954 "Higher Ground" 3

Civil Rights Entries

January to December 1954

The Desegregation of U.S. Colleges and Universities 5

Brown v. Board of Education: Legal Segregation in Public Education Unconstitutional 6

The Formation of the White Citizens Councils 8

Mob Violence over School Integration in Delaware 11

Ending of Racial Segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces 14

1955 "Climbing Jacob's Ladder" 19

January to December 1955

White Students Enrolled in All-Black Colleges and Universities 23

Race Relations Survey

1955 25

Citing Brown Decision, Courts Prohibit Segregation in Public Recreational Facilities 27

Southern Black Teachers Under Attack 31

Racial Violence and Attacks on NAACP Leaders 35

1956 "Better be Ready" 39

January to December 1956

The Montgomery Bus Boycott 42

Bus Boycotts Spread to Other Southern Cities 45

Legislative Attacks on the NAACP and Court-Ordered School Integration 48

White Citizens Councils Launch Attacks on Urban League Branches 52

Positive and Negative Responses of Organized Labor to Civil Rights Demands 54

1957 "Amazing Grace" 57

January to December 1957

Organized Religion and Racial Segregation, 1956-57 59

Nonviolent Protests Spread to Other Southern Cities 63

State Bans on Interracial Sports Competition 66

Showdown at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas 69

Concerts, Movies, Television, and Civil Rights 73

1958 "A Balm in Gilead" 77

January to December 1958

"Crusade for Citizenship"

Voter Registration Campaigns 80

Problems of Discrimination in Housing 83

1958

The Year of the Bombings 87

Southern Politicians Respond to Federal Intervention in Public School Integration 91

Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: Political Independent 93

1959 "The Storms of Life are Raging" 97

January to December 1959

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Swings into Action 101

International Incidents Caused by Racial Discrimination in the United States 104

The Rabbit's Wedding: An Interracial Romance? 107

Little Rock Public Schools Reopen, But Violence and Massive Resistance Continue 110

The Failure of Massive Resistance in Virginia 113

1960 "Goin' to Lay Down My Sword and Shield" 117

January to December 1960

Southern Students Launch the Sit-In Movement 118

Economic Reprisals Directed Against Black Voters in Fayette and Haywood Counties, Tenn., 1960-61 122

Wade-Ins, Kneel-Ins, Read-Ins: Desegregation of Public Facilities 124

Confronting Discrimination in Employment and Labor Unions 128

Black Voters and the Presidential Election of 1960 131

1961 "I've Been 'Buked and I've Been Scorned" 137

January to December 1961

The University of Georgia and the Desegregation of U.S. Colleges and Universities 139

"Jail, No Bail": Sit-Ins as Civil Disobedience 142

"Plans for Progress"

Campaigns to End Employment Discrimination 146

CORE Launches the Freedom Rides 150

"No Negroes Wanted": Housing as a Step Toward Equality 156

1962 "On Jordan's Stormy Banks" 159

January to December 1962

"Bury Jim Crow": CORE Campaigns for Integration 162

Opening the Floodgates: Public Accommodations Under Assault 165

Public School Desegregation in the South 169

The Albany Movement, 1961-62 172

James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss 176

1963 "We Shall Overcome" 181

January to December 1963

Campaigns Against Segregated Public Education in the North 185

Attacks on Discrimination in Government-Sponsored Employment 187

The Battle of Birmingham 190

SNCC Workers and Voter Registration Campaigns in the South 195

Civil Rights Protests Grip the Nation 198

1964 "Free at Last?" 201

January to December 1964

Violence Erupts in St. Augustine, Fla. 203

The Killing Fields: Mississippi and the Freedom Summer Project 207

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 211

Voting Rights and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party's Challenge 213

Desegregating Public Accommodations in 1964 218

1965 "Marching to Zion" 223

January to December 1965

Full Compliance: Federal Officials Move to Implement the Civil Rights Act of 1964 226

The Selma to Montgomery March and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 229

"Reverse Freedom Rides": The SCLC and SNCC Join the NAACP and CORE in Civil Rights Protests in the North 233

Church Burnings, Bombings, and Racial Violence Continue in the South 237

Deacons of Defense and Justice 241

The Aftermath: The Emergence of the Student Rights, Anti-War, Women's Liberation, and Black Power Movements 243.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Sheldon Hackney.

ISBN:

0805047697

OCLC:

41156514