My Soul Is a Witness : A Chronology of the Civil Rights Era in the United States, 1954-1965

by Collier-Thomas, Bettye; Franklin, V. P.

• ISBN13: 9780805047691
• ISBN10: 0805047697
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-01-17
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

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.

Author Biography

Bettye Collier-Thomas is a professor of history and directs the Center for African-American History and Culture at Temple University. She edited A Treasury of African-American Christmas Stories, Vols. I and II and lives in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. V.P. Franklin is a distinguished professor of history at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	xiii
Abbreviations	xix
1954 ``Higher Ground''	3	(16)
Civil Rights Entries---January to December 1954
The Desegregation of U. S. Colleges and Universities	5	(1)
Brown v. Board of Education: Legal Segregation in Public Education Unconstitutional	6	(2)
The Formation of the White Citizens Councils	8	(3)
Mob Violence over School Integration in Delaware	11	(3)
Ending of Racial Segregation in the U. S. Armed Forces	14	(5)
1955 ``Climbing Jacob's Ladder''	19	(20)
Civil Rights Entries---January to December 1955
White Students Enrolled in All-Black Colleges and Universities	23	(2)
Race Relations Survey---1955	25	(2)
Citing Brown Decision, Courts Prohibit Segregation in Public Recreational Facilities	27	(4)
Southern Black Teachers Under Attack	31	(4)
Racial Violence and Attacks on NAACP Leaders	35	(4)
1956 ``Better be Ready''	39	(18)
Civil Rights Entries---January to December 1956
The Montgomery Bus Boycott	42	(3)
Bus Boycotts Spread to Other Southern Cities	45	(3)
Legislative Attacks on the NAACP and Court-Ordered School Integration	48	(4)
White Citizens Councils Launch Attacks on Urban League Branches	52	(2)
Positive and Negative Responses of Organized Labor to Civil Rights Demands	54	(3)
1957 ``Amazing Grace''	57	(20)
Civil Rights Entries---January to December1957
Organized Religion and Racial Segregation, 1956-57	59	(4)
Nonviolent Protests Spread to Other Southern Cities	63	(3)
State Bans on Interracial Sports Competition	66	(3)
Showdown at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas	69	(4)
Concerts, Movies, Television, and Civil Rights	73	(4)
1958 ``A Balm in Gilead''	77	(20)
Civil Rights Entries---January to December 1958
``Crusade for Citizenship''---Voter Registration Campaigns	80	(3)
Problems of Discrimination in Housing	83	(4)
1958---The Year of the Bombings	87	(4)
Southern Politicians Respond to Federal Intervention in Public School Integration	91	(2)
Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: Political Independent	93	(4)
1959 ``The Storms of Life are Raging''	97	(20)
Civil Rights Entries---January to December 1959
The U. S. Commission on Civil Rights Swings into Action	101	(3)
International Incidents Caused by Racial Discrimination in the United States	104	(3)
The Rabbit's Wedding: An Interracial Romance?	107	(3)
Little Rock Public Schools Reopen, But Violence and Massive Resistance Continue	110	(3)
The Failure of Massive Resistance in Virginia	113	(4)
1960 ``Goin' to Lay Down my Sword and Shield''	117	(20)
Civil Rights Entries---January to December 1960
Southern Students Launch the Sit-In Movement	118	(4)
Economic Reprisals Directed Against Black Voters in Fayette and Haywood Counties, Tenn., 1960--61	122	(2)
Wade-Ins, Kneel-Ins, Read-Ins: Desegregation of Public Facilities	124	(4)
Confronting Discrimination in Employment and Labor Unions	128	(3)
Black Voters and the Presidential Election of 1960	131	(6)
1961 ``I've been 'Buked and I've been Scorned''	137	(22)
Civil Rights Entries---January to December 1961
The University of Georgia and the Desegregation of U. S. Colleges and Universities	139	(3)
``Jail, No Bail'': Sit-Ins as Civil Disobedience	142	(4)
``Plans for Progress''---Campaigns to End Employment Discrimination	146	(4)
CORE Launches the Freedom Rides	150	(6)
``No Negroes Wanted'': Housing as a Step Toward Equality	156	(3)
1962 ``On Jordan's Stormy Banks''	159	(22)
Civil Rights Entries---January to December 1962
``Bury Jim Crow'': CORE Campaigns for Integration	162	(3)
Opening the Floodgates: Public Accommodations Under Assault	165	(4)
Public School Desegregation in the South	169	(3)
The Albany Movement, 1961--62	172	(4)
James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss	176	(5)
1963 ``We shall Overcome''	181	(20)
Civil Rights Entries---January to December 1963
Campaigns Against Segregated Public Education in the North	185	(2)
Attacks on Discrimination in Government-Sponsored Employment	187	(3)
The Battle of Birmingham	190	(5)
SNCC Workers and Voter Registration Campaigns in the South	195	(3)
Civil Rights Protests Grip the Nation	198	(3)
1964 ``Free at Last?''	201	(22)
Civil Rights Entries---January to December 1964
Violence Erupts in St. Augustine, Fla	203	(4)
The Killing Fields: Mississippi and the Freedom Summer Project	207	(4)
The Civil Rights Act of 1964	211	(2)
Voting Rights and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party's Challenge	213	(5)
Desegregating Public Accommodations in 1964	218	(5)
1965 ``Marching to Zion''	223	(20)
Civil Rights Entries---January to December 1965
Full Compliance: Federal Officials Move to Implement the Civil Rights Act of 1964	226	(3)
The Selma to Montgomery March and the Voting Rights Act of 1965	229	(4)
``Reverse Freedom Rides'': The SCLC and SNCC Join the NAACP and CORE in Civil Rights Protests in the North	233	(4)
Church Burnings, Bombings, and Racial Violence Continue in the South	237	(4)
Deacons of Defense and Justice	241	(2)
The Aftermath: The Emergence of the Student Rights, Anti-War, Women's Liberation, and Black Power Movements	243	(4)
Selected Bibliography	247	(4)
Index	251