mrs. rosa parks fingerprinted in montgomery, alabamasalvador/spring thru february/jim...

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html

Ruby Bridges, 1960. Gelatin silver print.

New York World-Telegram and SunCollection,

Prints and Photographs Division(148)

Digital ID # cph 3c26460

The Library of Congress >> Exhibitions Find in Brown v. Board Exhibition PagesBrown v. Board Exhibition Pages

Home | Overview | Racial Segregation | Brown v. Board | Aftermath | Exhibition Checklist | Programs | Read More | Credits

The "deliberate speed" called for in the Supreme Court's Brown

decision was quickly overshadowed by events outside the nation's

courtrooms. In Montgomery, Alabama, a grassroots revolt against

segregated public transportation inspired a multitude of similar

protests and boycotts. A number of school districts in the Southern

and border states desegregated peacefully. Elsewhere, white

resistance to school desegregation resulted in open defiance and

violent confrontations, requiring the use of federal troops in Little

Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. Efforts to end segregation in Southern

colleges were also marred by obstinate refusals to welcome African

Americans into previously all-white student bodies.

By 1964, ten years after Brown, the NAACP's focused legal

campaign had been transformed into a mass movement to

eliminate all traces of institutionalized racism from American life.

This effort, marked by struggle and sacrifice, soon captured the

imagination and sympathies of much of the nation. In many

respects, the ideals expressed in Brown v. Board had inspired the

dream of a society based on justice and racial equality.

Mrs. Rosa Parks being fingerprinted in Montgomery, Alabama, 1956.

Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection,

Mrs. Rosa Parks Fingerprinted in Montgomery, Alabama

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, forty-three,

was arrested for disorderly conducted for

refusing to give up her bus seat to a white

passenger. Her arrest and fourteen dollar fine

for violating city ordinance, led African American

bus riders and others to boycott the

Montgomery city buses. It also helped to


Prints and Photographs Division (119)

establish the Montgomery Improvement

Association led by a then unknown young

minister from the Dexter Avenue Baptist

Church, Martin Luther King, Jr. The boycott

lasted for one year and brought the Civil Rights

Movement and Dr. Martin King to the attention

of the world.

Rosa Parks Arrest Record

Rosa Parks was a leader in the Montgomery,

Alabama, bus boycott, which demonstrated

that segregation would be contested in many

social settings. A federal district court decided

that segregation on publicly operated buses

was unconstitutional and concluded that, "in

the Brown case, Plessy v. Ferguson has been

impliedly, though not explicitly, overruled." The

Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the

district court without opinion, a common

procedure it followed in the interim between

1954 and 1958.

Rosa Parks's arrest record,December 5, 1955.

Frank Johnson Papers,

Manuscript Division (118)

Tom P. Brady. Black Monday

Title pageWinona, Mississippi: Association of

Citizens' Councils, 1955.

Black Monday, 1954

Following the Supreme Court's decision on

Brown v Board of Education, U.S.

Representative John Bell Williams (D-Mississippi)

coined the term "Black Monday" on the floor of

Congress to denote Monday, May 17, 1954, the

date of the Supreme Court's decision. In

opposition to the decision, white citizens'

councils formally organized throughout the

south to preserve segregation and defend

segregated schools. The White Citizens' Council

movement in Mississippi, led by Thomas Pickens

Brady, a circuit court judge, published a


General Collections (120)

handbook, Black Monday, in which the

philosophy of the movement is stated, including

its call for the nullification of the NAACP, the

creation of a forty-ninth state for Negroes, and

the abolition of public schools.

University of Alabama Students Protest Desegregation

Autherine Lucy's dream of obtaining a degree in

library science was finally realized when she

officially enrolled at the all-white University of

Alabama in 1956. While the court had granted

her the right to attend the university, the white

population seemed intent on making this

impossible by staging riots. Students, adults

and even groups from outside of Alabama

shouted racial epithets, threw eggs, sticks and

rocks, and generally attempted to block her

way. Protestors, like the group pictured here,

prompted the University to expel Lucy on

February 6, 1956, in order to ensure her

personal safety.

University of Alabama Students burndesegregation literature, 1956.

Gelatin silver print. Prints and Photographs Division (121A)

Thurgood Marshall and Arthur Shores, February 29, 1956. Gelatin silver print.

Visual Materials from the NAACP Records,Prints and Photograph Division (123)

Courtesy of the NAACP

Autherine Lucy's Attorneys

Autherine Lucy, the first African American

student to be admitted to the University of

Alabama in 1956, is shown with her attorneys

Thurgood Marshall and Arthur Shore. The case

went to court in 1953, and a decision to

prohibit the university from rejecting Lucy

based on race was reached in 1955. This

decision was amended days later to apply to all

African American students seeking to enter the

University of Alabama. Lucy enrolled on

February 3, 1956, but was expelled for her own

safety three days later. Marshall and Shores

went back to court but were forced to withdraw


the case due to lack of support. Lucy's

expulsion was finally overturned in 1988.

Autherine Lucy's Expulsion

A day after Autherine Lucy's expulsion from the

University of Alabama, Roy Wilkins sent this

telegram to U.S. Attorney General Herbert

Brownell requesting the institution of criminal

contempt proceedings against all parties

prohibiting Lucy from attending classes at the

University. The federal government refused to

intercede. Lucy's expulsion was finally

overturned in 1988 by the Board of Regents.

She entered the University in earnest the

following year and graduated in 1992 with a

master's degree in elementary education along

with her daughter, Grazia, who was enrolled as

an undergraduate.

Telegram. NAACP Executive SecretaryRoy Wilkins to Herbert Brownell concerning

the expulsion of Autherine Lucy, February 7, 1956.NAACP Records,

Manuscript Division (121)Courtesy of the NAACP

Clinton, Tennessee, school integration conflict,1956.

Gelatin silver print. U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection,

Prints and Photographs Division (125C)Digital ID # ppmsca 03093

School Integration in Clinton, Tennessee

In 1956, Clinton High School in Clinton,

Anderson County, Tennessee, was set to be the

first high school in the South to be integrated

after the Brown decision. Integration was

progressing smoothly until John Kasper, leader

of the White Citizens Council and a staunch

segregationist, came to town. Protests and riots

ensued from that day until early in December,

when several white citizens escorted the African

American students to class, as shown here. One

of the escorts was badly beaten afterwards. As

a result of the episode the school was closed on

December 4, but reopened six days later

without incident.


A Classroom in Nashville After Integration

While many schools throughout the south were

confronted with protesters attempting to

prevent integration, Miss Mary Brent, principal

of the previously all white Glenn Elementary

School in Nashville greets black and white

students, without incident, on the first day of

school.

Integrated classroom in Nashville, 1957. Gelatin silver print.

New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection, Prints and Photographs Division (125A)

School Dilemma--Youths taunt Dorothy GeraldineCounts in Charlotte, North Carolina, 1957.

Gelatin silver print. Visual Materials from the NAACP Records,

Prints and Photographs Division (125B)Courtesy of the NAACP

School Dilemma

In 1957, fifteen-year-old Dorothy Geraldine

Counts and three other students became the

first African American students to attend the

previously all white Harding High School in

Charlotte, North Carolina. They were greeted by

angry white mobs who screamed obscenities

and racial slurs at the African American

students. Counts's picture appeared in many

newspapers as did others of black students

attempting to attend white schools for the first

time. Counts's family feared for her safety and

withdrew her from Harding and sent her out of

state to complete high school.

Anacostia High School, Washington, D.C.

In the 1950s, Washington, D.C. black schools

were both segregated and inadequate. Many

schools were overcrowded and lacked adequate

educational materials. This photograph shows

the results of the Brown decision with both

black and white students in the same

classroom in 1957. Today Anacostia, like many

of the public high schools in D.C. is attended by

Warren K. Leffler. An integrated classroom at Anacostia High School,

Washington, DC, 1957. Gelatin silver print.

U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection,


predominantly African American students. Prints and Photographs Division (201)

Cecil Layne. Little Rock Nine and Daisy Bates pose

in living room, ca. 1957-1960. Gelatin silver print.

Visual Materials from the NAACP Records, Prints and Photographs Division (128)

Courtesy of the NAACP

The Little Rock Nine

Seventeen African American students were

selected to attend the all white Central High

School in 1957 but by opening day the number

had dwindled to nine. Pictured here with Daisy

Bates, a newspaper journalist and active

member in the local NAACP, are nine students,

Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Elizabeth

Eckford, Terrace Roberts, Carlotta Walls, Gloria

Ray, Jefferson Thomas, Melba Pattillo, and

Minnijean Brown. Bates would become the

advisor for the nine students. The day before

school opened, Governor Orval Faubus called

the National Guard to surround Central High,

declaring "blood would run in the streets" if

blacks students attempted to enter.

U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division

On September 24, Little Rock Mayor Woodrow

Mann sent a special request for federal

assistance to President Dwight Eisenhower. The

following day nine African American students

entered Central under the protection of

members of the 101st Airborne Division of the

U. S. Army, shown here. The Little Rock Nine,

as they have become known, finished the school

year in 1958. One of the students, Ernest

Green graduated that year with the help of

federal protection. In September 1958,

Governor Faubus closed all high schools in Little

Rock. They reopened in August 1959 with the

protection of local police. Only four of the nine

U.S. Troops escort African American students fromCentral High School, Little Rock, Arkansas,

October 3, 1957. Gelatin silver print.

New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection, Prints and Photographs Division (130B)


students returned.

Charles Mingus. "Fables of Faubus." Holograph music manuscript, ca. 1957.

Charles Mingus Collection, Music Division (131)

"Fables of Faubus" by Charles Mingus, published by the Jazz Workshop, Inc. Courtesy of Sue Mingus.

"Fables of Faubus"

Orval E. Faubus was the governor of Arkansas,

who in 1957 sent out the National Guard to

prevent African-American students from

entering Little Rock's Central High School.

American jazz musician Charles Mingus

responded to the event by composing "Fables of

Faubus," a condemnation of the action.

Unfortunately, Columbia Records prohibited

Mingus and fellow musician, Danny Richmond

from singing the following lyrics:

Name me someone who's ridiculous, Dannie.

Governor Faubus!/

Why is he so sick and ridiculous?

He won't permit integrated schools.

Columbia reconsidered and recorded the piece

in its entirety two years later.

Daisy Bates and The Little Rock Nine

Daisy Bates, publisher of the newspaper The

Arkansas State Press and president of the

Arkansas NAACP Branches, led the NAACP's

campaign to desegregate the public schools in

Little Rock, Arkansas. Thurgood Marshall and

Wiley Branton served as counsel. The school

board agreed to begin the process with Central

High School, approving the admission of nine

black teenagers. The decision outraged many

white citizens including Arkansas Governor

Orval Faubus. President Eisenhower sent federal

troops to Little Rock to ensure the protection of

the nine students, and, on September 25,

1957, they entered the school. In the midst of

the crisis, Daisy Bates wrote this letter to

Daisy Bates to Roy Wilkins on the treatment of the Little Rock Nine,

December 17, 1957. Page 2

Typed letter. NAACP Records. Manuscript Division (127)Courtesy of the NAACP


NAACP Executive Director Roy Wilkins to report

on the students' progress.

"Segregation's Citadel Unbreached in 4 Years," Washington Observer, Sunday, May 11, 1958.

Enlarged version Newspaper map.

Geography and Map Division (140)Copyright 1958, Washingtonpost.Newsweek

Interactiveand The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Segregation's Citadel Unbreached, 1958

At the time of the May 1954 Brown v. Board of

Education,decision seventeen states and the

District of Columbia had laws enforcing school

segregation. By 1958, only seven

states--Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia,

Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana

--maintained public school segregation.

Ruby Bridges

In 1956 U.S. District Court Judge J. Skelly

Wright ordered the desegregation of the New

Orleans public schools. After a series of appeals,

in 1960, Wright set down a plan that required

the integration of the schools on a

grade-per-year basis, beginning with the first

grade. The School Board issued a test to black

kindergartners to determine the best

candidates. Six-year old Ruby Bridges was one

of six children selected. Four agreed to proceed.

On November 14, Bridges integrated the

William Frantz Public School. In retaliation, white

parents withdrew her classmates and Bridges's

father was fired from his job. Ruby completed

the first grade alone with the support of

Ruby Bridges, 1960. Gelatin silver print.

New York World-Telegram and Sun Collection, Prints and Photographs Division (148)

Digital ID # cph 3c26460


Barbara Henry, a Boston teacher, and Dr.

Robert Coles, a child psychiatrist. Ruby's walk to

school the first day, escorted by U.S. Marshals,

inspired the 1964 Norman Rockwell painting,

"The Problem We All Live With."

The Library of Congress does not have permissionto show this image online

School Desegregation Spreads Through South, Associated Press Newsfeatures,

October 16, 1961. Newspaper map.

Geography and Map Division (152)

School Desegregation Spreads Through South

Faced with increasing public and state

legislative support for desegregation, political

leaders in Southern states gradually introduced

desegregation measures. By 1961, only South

Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi still

maintained completely segregated school

systems.

"Meredith Enrolls at Ole Miss "

Riots erupted when James Meredith, armed

with a Supreme Court order and guarded by

federal marshals, enrolled at the University of

Mississippi, known as "Ole Miss," on October 1,

1962. In spite of Governor Ross Barnett's initial

defiance of federal rulings, Meredith prevailed

and graduated from the university in 1963. The

Birmingham News, then an evening newspaper

in Alabama, a state that experienced its own

civil rights woes, reported that day's activities.

Founded in 1888, the newspaper had a daily

circulation of approximately 188,280 at the

time.

The Birmingham News (Birmingham, Alabama),Monday, October 1, 1962.

Enlarged version Newspaper.

Historic Events Newspaper Collection, Serial and Government Publications Division (158)


Media Images

Norman Rockwell to John A. Morsell, December 3, 1963.

Typed letter.NAACP Records,

Manuscript Division (155)Courtesy of the NAACP


Look magazine, January 14, 1964.

Centerfold. Prints and Photographs Division (175)

Powerful images appearing in the news media captured the imaginations of ordinary Americans and

helped enlist their sympathies in the cause of civil rights and school integration. In this letter to the

NAACP, renowned illustrator Norman Rockwell offered for the organization's use his painting "The

Problem We All Live With." The painting, which was published in Look magazine, January 14, 1964,

portrayed a young African American girl, escorted by federal marshals, as she made her way

through a hostile environment toward a newly integrated school. The painting was based on the

ordeal of Ruby Bridges in New Orleans, Louisiana.

John A. Morsell, Assistant to NAACP ExecutiveSecretary to President John F. Kennedy requesting

the assistance of the federal government in thecase of James Meredith,

September 21, 1962. Page 2

Typed letter.

Federal Assistance Needed

On September 10, 1962, the Supreme Court

ordered the University of Mississippi to admit

James Meredith, a twenty-eight year old Air

Force Veteran, after a sixteen month legal

battle. Governor Ross Barnett disavowed the

decree and had Meredith physically barred from

enrolling. President Kennedy responded by

federalizing the National Guard and sending

Army troops to protect Meredith. After days of

violence and rioting by whites, Meredith,

escorted by federal marshals, enrolled on


NAACP Records, Manuscript Division (156)Courtesy of the NAACP

October 1, 1962. Two men were killed in the

turmoil and more than 300 injured. Because he

had earned credits in the military and at

Jackson State College, Meredith graduated the

following August without incident.

Meredith with Constance B. Motley and Jack Greenberg

On September 28, the Fifth Circuit Court found

Governor Ross Barnett guilty of civil contempt

for defying two earlier orders to admit James

Meredith to the University of Mississippi.

Meredith left the courthouse accompanied by

his attorneys Constance Baker Motley and Jack

Greenberg. Motley received national recognition

for her defense of Meredith. A graduate of

Columbia Law School, she joined the Legal

Defense Fund as a law clerk in 1946 and

became assistant counsel in 1949. She helped

prepare the Brown briefs. Thurgood Marshall

hired Greenberg as an assistant counsel

directly from Columbia Law School in 1949.

Greenberg worked on the Sweatt case and was

co-counsel on the Parker, Brown and Delaware

cases. In 1961, he succeeded Marshall as

Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund ,

serving in that capacity until 1984.


James Meredith and NAACP lawyers ConstanceBaker Motley and Jack Greenberg, 1962.

Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection,

Prints and Photographs Division (157B)


Phil Ochs. "The Ballad of Oxford, Mississippi." Broadside 15, (November 1962). New York: 1962.

American Folklife Center (157)

"The Ballad of Oxford, Mississippi"

Phil Ochs, a topical-protest songwriter, played a

central role in the 1960s Greenwich Village folk

scene. "A Ballad of Oxford, Mississippi"

chronicled James Meredith's 1962 enrollment at

the University of Mississippi and was first

published in Broadside magazine. Despite the

magazine's small circulation, it had a strong

impact on the folksong revival. The late 1962


issues contained numerous other songs about

James Meredith including, for example, Bob

Dylan's Oxford Town.

Governor George Wallace at the University of Alabama

This image of Governor George Wallace blocking

the entrance to the University of Alabama is one

of the most recognized of all the images from

the civil rights period. On June 11, 1963,

Wallace, surrounded by Alabama state troopers,

confronted and blocked Assistant U.S. Attorney

General Nicholas Katzenbach and the African

American students from entering the

university. President Kennedy had to federalize

the National Guard and send them to the

campus to assist with the integration process.

Wallace did eventually step aside and allow the

students to register.

Warren K. Leffler, photographer. Governor George Wallace attempting to block

integration at the University of Alabama, 1963. Gelatin silver print.

U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection, Prints and Photographs Division (174A)

Digital ID # ppmsca 04294

Warren K. Leffler. Students entering Foster Auditorium to register at

the University of Alabama, June 11, 1963.

Gelatin silver print. U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection,

Prints and Photographs Division (174B)

Vivian Malone at the University of Alabama

Vivian Malone and James Hood were the first

two students to integrate the University of

Alabama with the help of the National Guard,

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katzenbach, and

President Kennedy on June 11, 1963.


Summit Conference on Civil Rights

On the tenth anniversary of the Brown decision

leaders of national organizations for blacks met

in New York City to hold a Summit Conference

on Civil Rights. Present (from left to right) were

Bayard Rustin, civil rights activist; Jack

Greenberg, Director of Counsel of the NAACP

Educational and Legal Defense Fund; Whitney

Young, Jr., Director of the National Urban

League; James Farmer, National Director of

Congress of Racial Equality; Roy Wilkins,

Executive Secretary of NAACP; Dr. Martin

Luther King, Jr.; John Lewis, Chairman of the

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee;

and A. Philip Randolph, Chairman of the National

Negro American Labor Council.

Summit Conference on Civil Rights. Gelatin silver print.

New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection. Prints and Photographs Division (204)


Newport Broadside: Topical Songs at the Newport Folk Festival.

Vanguard, 1964. Album cover.

Motion Picture, Broadcasting andRecorded Sound Division (205)

The Newport Folk Festival

The Newport Folk Festival quickly became a

showcase for 1960s folk revival artists. One

festival highlight was the afternoon Topical

Songs workshop hosted by Pete Seeger. The

Vanguard Records release of topical songs from

the 1963 festival includes "Fighting for My

Rights" by the Freedom Singers, a group

associated with the Student Nonviolent

Coordinating Committee.

The March on Washington

We Shall Overcome! captures one of the pivotal

moments in the Civil Rights Movement, the

March on Washington held on August 28,

1963. This LP was produced by the Council for

United Civil Rights Leadership and issued by

Folkways Records. It includes part of President


We Shall Overcome!: Documentary of the Marchon Washington. Folkways, 1964.

Album cover. Motion Picture, Broadcasting and

Recorded Sound Division (209)


Kennedy's news conference about the event,

Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, and Bayard

Rustin's "Demands on the March,"speech that

asked for civil rights legislation to "include

public accommodations, decent housing,

integrated education, and the right to vote."

Life magazine, September 6, 1963.

Cover. General Collections (217)

Courtesy of Leonard McCombe, Time-Life Pictures, Getty Images.

March on Washington in Life, 1963

African American resistance to enslavement and

multiple forms of social, political, and economic

inequality included slave rebellions, marches,

individual protests, and legislative action in the

courts. The March on Washington, August 28,

1963, was a major expression of resistance in

the continuing strugglefor African American

freedom in the United States. Major organizers

included Bayard Rustin, civil rights activist, A.

Phillip Randolph (Brotherhood of Sleeping Car

Porters), Roy Wilkins (National Association for

the Advancement of Colored People), James

Farmer (Congress of Racial Equality), John Lewis

(Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee),

and Dorothy Height (National Council of Negro

Women).

"We Don't Dig No Busing"

In 1971, the Supreme Court upheld legislation

that caused children of different races to be

transported to white schools for racial balance.

The school districts spent millions of dollars

each year busing minorities to white schools;

however, opponents of forced integration

believed that the transportation funding should

have been used to improve the conditions of

the poor schools.

Shown here is a recording of "We Don't Dig No

Busing," sung by the Greer Brothers ages nine


Greer Brothers. " We Don't Dig No Busing," (Busing Song).

Houston: Don Music Company, 1973. Record.

Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division (176A)


through fourteen. It was produced in 1973 by

an African American recording studio, the Don

Music company in Houston, Texas.

he Library of Congress does not have permission toshow this image online

Bob Dylan. The Times They Are A-Changin'.

Columbia , 1964. Album cover.

Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded SoundDivision (206)

The Times They Are A-Changin

Bob Dylan's third recording was also his last to

feature topical-protest songs. In compositions

such as "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,"

Dylan described a specific civil rights event to

his growing audience, in this case focusing

upon the judicial system's inadequacies. The

title track and other songs on the record such

as "When the Ship Comes In" articulated a

broad and defiant call for cultural change.

Obstruction and Delays in Virginia

The diehard segregationist campaign of

"massive resistance" took many forms. In

Virginia's Prince Edward County, location of one

of the original school-segregation cases, local

authorities evaded court-ordered integration by

closing the public schools and supporting new,

white-only, private schools. The Supreme Court

reviewed these actions in 1964. This

handwritten draft ruling by Justice William O.

Douglas indicates his frustration with "over a

decade" of delays since Brown: "Afterward

numerous opinions were written by the District

Court and the Court of Appeals but our

mandate in the Brown case has never been

implemented."

William O. Douglas, [May 1964].

Draft per curiam opinion.William O. Douglas Papers, Manuscript Division (203)


Thomas J. O'Halloran, photographer. Students arriving at the Free School #2 in Farmville,

Prince Edward County, Virginia, 1963. Gelatin silver print.

U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection, Prints and Photographs Division (203A)

"Free school" in Farmville, Virginia

When Prince Edward County closed all of its

schools in 1959 rather than integrate in

accordance with the Supreme Court's decision.

The white citizens in the county formed a

private all white academy where their children

could continue their education. African

American students were not provided public

education until 1963. The Reverend Leslie

Francis Griffin a member of the NAACP and the

chairman of the Moton High School P.T.A.

petitioned President Kennedy for support from

the federal government to prepare the African

American students for re-entering the public

schools. As a result the Prince Edward County

Free School System was created. Shown are

students entering Free School #2.

Tenth Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

A press conference at the Hotel Americana

celebrates the tenth anniversary of the

landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision.

Four of the five plaintiffs whose class action

cases combined in Brown are pictured

together: Harry Briggs, Jr. (Briggs v Elliot),

Linda Brown Smith (Brown v Board of Education

of Topeka), Spottswood Bolling, Jr. (Bolling v.

Sharpe), and Ethel Louise Belton Brown

(Gebhart v. Belton [Bulah] ).The fifth case was

Dorothy E. Davis v County School Board of

Prince Edward County, Virginia.

Harry Briggs, Jr., Linda Brown Smith, SpottswoodBolling, Jr., and Ethel Louise Belton Brown during

press conference, 1964. Gelatin silver print.

New York World-Telegram and Sun Collection, Prints and Photographs Division (224)


Save Brown v. Board of Education, 2003. Poster.


The New Civil Rights Movement

On April 1, 2003, several thousands gathered

for a new March on Washington sponsored by

The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action,

Integration & Immigrant Rights, and Fight for

Equality By Any Means Necessary. BAMN, the

organization's acronym, were co-defendants in

Grutter v. Bollinger, the case which disputed

the University of Michigan's admissions policy.

They felt many of the gains made by minorities

would be lost if the case did not uphold the

Brown decision. Many of the protesters carried

these signs with the phrase "Save Affirmative

Action" and "Save Brown v. Board of Education."

Warren K. Leffler, photographer. Civil Rights March in Washington, D.C., 1963.

Copyprint. U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection,



Bill Mauldin's Support for Integration

In this drawing, political cartoonist Bill Mauldin

commented on the actions of Little Rock to

establish private schools to circumvent the U.S.

8th Circuit Court of Appeals' November 10,

1958, order to integrate. He used the

dilapidated schoolhouse as a metaphor for the

disintegration of public school systems in the

1950s. Mauldin gained public recognition for his

World War II army cartoons, but when asked

what the most important issue of his career had

been, Mauldin replied, "The one thing that

meant the most to me and that I got involved

in was the whole civil rights thing in the sixties."

Bill Mauldin (1921-2003). "What is done in ourclassrooms today will be reflected in the successes or failures of civilization tomorrow." Lindly C. Baxter,

1958. Ink, crayon, and white out over pencil on layered

paper. Published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

November 11, 1958. Prints and Photographs Division (138)

© Copyright 1958 by Bill Mauldin. Reproduced onlinecourtesy of the Mauldin Estate.

Bill Mauldin (1921-2003).Inch by inch, 1960.

Crayon, ink, blue pencil and white out over pencil onlayered paper.

Published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 1, 1960.

Prints and Photographs Division (145) © Copyright 1960 by Bill Mauldin. Reproduced online

courtesy of the Mauldin Estate.

Difficulty of Achieving Integration, 1960

Despite the legal mandate to integrate, school

districts were slow to accommodate African

American children, as Bill Mauldin

metaphorically shows here with three young

students working hard to open the door of

"School segregation" a mere crack. At its annual

meeting in 1960, the National Education

Association rejected proposals to support the

Supreme Court decision, instead opting for a

watered-down resolution describing integration

as "an evolving process." Because of school

boards' reluctance to follow either the letter or

the spirit of the law, segregation remained in

effect well into the 1960s.


Slow Pace of Integration

Political cartoonist Herb Block, better known by

his pen name Herblock championed civil rights

throughout his career. Eight years after the

U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that

racial segregation in public schools was

unconstitutional, in the 1954 case of Brown v.

Board of Education of Topeka, he penned this

cartoon expressing his dismay at the country's

slow progress toward educational integration. In

his 1964 book Straight Herblock he wrote, "The

racist demagogues and rulers of state fiefdoms

need not send to know for whom the school bell

tolls. It tolls for them."

Herb Block (1909-2001).I'm eight. I was born on the day of the Supreme

Court decision, May 17, 1962.

Ink, crayon, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing on layered paper.

Published in the Washington Post, May 17, 1962. Prints and Photographs Division (169)

© 1962 by Herblock in The Washington Post

Herb Block (1909-2001). If the government doesn't support

separate-but-equal schools for our children, it'sguilty of discrimination!,

February 12, 1963. Ink, crayon, and opaque white

over graphite underdrawing on layered paper. Published in the Washington Post, February 12,

1963. Prints and Photographs Division (168)


Herblock on Private Schools to Avoid Integration

Commenting on white parents who sent their

children to private school to avoid integration,

Herb Block wrote in Straight Herblock, "I'll get

in there and pitch for any child who is being

denied schooling, whatever his race, color or

religion. But when a public school is open and

parents choose to send their children to a

private school instead, I don't see how those

children are being denied an education or

denied any rights. And it seems ironic indeed

that some people in effect feel discriminated

against for lack of government-supported

separate-but-equal religious schools, when real

victims of discrimination have finally won

recognition of the fact that schools which are

separate are not equal."


Supporting Civil Rights

Herb Block applauds the growing activism of the

Civil Rights Movement in this cartoon. He shows

an African American practically pushed into the

street by a white man, while signs on all the

buildings that line the street speak of

restrictions on blacks. Block's cartoon reflects

events of its time. In efforts to compel school

districts to end de facto segregation in the

North and to reduce school overcrowding,

African American parents in Chicago, New York,

New Jersey, and other areas publically

demonstrated. President Kennedy, in a speech

given on August 28, 1963, urged Americans to

"accelerate our effort to achieve equal rights for

all our citizens."

Herb Block (1909-2001). "And remember, nothing can be accomplished by

taking to the streets," September 6, 1963.

Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing on layered paper.

Published in the Washington Post, September 6, 1963.

Prints and Photographs Division (170)© 1963 by Herblock in The Washington Post

Oliver W. Harrington (1912-1995). Dark laughter. Now I aint so sure I wanna get

educated, 1963. Crayon, ink, blue pencil, and pencil on paper.

Published in the Pittsburgh Courier, September 21, 1963.

Prints and Photographs Division (172)Courtesy of Dr. Helma Harrington

Digital ID # ppmsca-05518

Oliver Harrington's Dark Laughter

This cartoon appeared as President Kennedy

announced integration of 157 city school

districts, not as a milestone, but as progress

"slow step by step." Meanwhile some black

children continued to live in areas without a

public school system as officials attempted to

bypass integration. Oliver Harrington, an

influential African American cartoonist,

published this image during a year of

heightened interracial tension in the United

States, from his home in East Berlin, Germany.

This cartoon appeared in the African American

newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier.


First Day of School

Artist Vincent Smith, once described himself as

an "expressionist," someone who experiences

life on his own terms. As an African American

artist, he became aware of social issues early in

his career. An active member of the black arts

movement in the1960s, Smith sometimes

explored these issues in his work. His etching,

First Day of School, shows a large crowd

watching young black children on their way to

school. The scene is reminiscent of attempts to

integrate public schools in some areas

throughout the South after the Brown decision.

Vincent Smith (b. 1930).First Day of School, 1965.Etching (reprint, 1994).


Herb Block (1909-2001). " . . . One nation . . . indivisible . . . ,"

February 22, 1977.Ink, graphite, and opaque white, with tonal film

overlay and porous point pen over graphite underdrawing on

paper. Published in the Washington Post,

February 22, 1977. Prints and Photographs Division (182)


Problems of "White Flight"

In this work, Herb Block reminded Americans of

the divisions between public education in the

inner cities and the suburbs, made more

pronounced by "white flight" from urban areas

after the Brown v. Board decision. The U.S.

Commission on Civil Rights reported on

February 15, 1977, that true desegregation

could be achieved in urban areas only if

students were bused between cities and

suburbs. It argued that segregation had

actually increased since 1954. Block strove to

make Americans aware of the need for equality

in education during his career, and bequeathed

money to the United Negro College Fund in his

will.

Home | Overview | Racial Segregation | Brown v. Board | Aftermath | Exhibition Checklist | Programs | Read More | Credits


The Library of Congress >> Exhibitions Exhibitions Online Survey October 15, 2007

Find in Brown v. Board Exhibition PagesBrown v. Board Exhibition Pages

Contact Us

mrs. rosa parks fingerprinted in montgomery, alabamasalvador/spring thru february/jim...

Documents