1960s Timeline

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Mar 11

Mrs. Coretta Scott King Speaks at Harlem Church

Mar. 11, 1962 - Mrs. Coretta Scott King urged today that Negroes “at the bottom of the economic scale” be given “better than equal opportunities.” Mrs. King, the wife of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said Negroes had “a lot of running and catching up to do.” Mrs. King addressed an overflow crowd at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. She had been invited on the occasion of today’s “Women’s Day Program,” a yearly event in which funds are raised for the benefit of t

Mar 10

Phillies Move After Negro Players Denied Accomodations

Mar. 10, 1962 - Because local hotels in Clearwater, Fla., refused to accommodate five Negro ballplayers, the Philadelphia Phillies moved players and officials out of town today. The Phils left the Jack Tar Harrison hotel and moved into the Rocky Point motel on the Howard Franklin Causeway, 20 miles away. The club’s general manager, John Quinn, who two days ago received word that the NAACP would picket the Phillies’ home games unless the squad’s housing was integrated in Flori

Feb 25

Heavyweight Champ Floyd Patterson Speaks at NAACP Conference in Mississippi

Feb. 25, 1962 - Floyd Patterson (pictured right with Eleanor Roosevelt), the heavyweight boxing champion, said today that he felt guilty remaining in the North while Southern Negroes faced “danger” in the fight for racial integration. Mr. Patterson spoke to a crowd of 3,800 in Jackson, Mississippi, at the Southeast Regional Conference of the NAACP. Jackie Robinson, the former baseball star; Archie Moore, the boxer; and Curtis Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals also spoke. Mr. P

Feb 15

TV: Ike Appraises World Figure During CBS Interview with Walter Cronkite

Feb. 15, 1962 - Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower (pictured right in November 1944) last night gave a TV audience thumbnail appraisals of several world figures he had dealt with as President or as General of the Army. He made his observations during the last of three hour-long programs, “Eisenhower on the Presidency,” carried on CBS. The appraisals were given in answers to questions by Walter Cronkite. General Eisenhower applied the label “great” to General George C. Mars

Feb 14

Whites in Macon, Georgia Try to Offset Negro Bus Boycott

Feb. 14, 1962 - White persons living in Macon, Ga., who had done little bus riding in recent years started using city buses today in an attempt to offset a Negro boycott. The drive started when 50 whites boarded a bus, paid fares, rode only one block and got off. Many whites left their cars at home. Some boarded buses only to buy tokens. Negroes started the boycott three days ago, seeking an end to segregated riding and the employment of members of their race as drivers and m

Feb 6

Stores in Memphis Desegregate Lunch Counters and Dining Rooms

Feb. 6, 1962 - Twenty-nine Memphis stores desegregated dining rooms and lunch counters today. The move came quietly after meetings between Negro leaders and merchants. The stores represented 10 companies. Most of the participating companies also desegregated rest rooms. “The decision to desegregate was based on the wish to move with the community and help keep Memphis a peaceful and prosperous city,” a spokesman for the companies said. “We feel that this decision will be rece

Feb 1

Martin Luther King Announces "Recruiting Tour" to Fight Segregation

Feb. 1, 1962 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, announced today a “recruiting tour” into every state in the South. “This,” Dr. King said, “is a full-scale assault on segregation. I am going into the communities to talk to people on a person-to-person basis and get them out to register and vote.” The series of trips will begin with a 70-mile journey through Mississippi to “enlist volunteers for the ‘Freedom Corps.’” The Fre

Jan 28

Segregation Over at Most Southern Bus and Railroad Terminals

Jan. 28, 1962 - Official segregation has virtually ended at bus and railroad terminals in the South, Justice Department sources reported today. They did not suggest that whites and Negroes were mixing freely in waiting rooms and restaurants in every rural town. Lifelong inhibitions and fears would keep many Negroes in such areas from asserting their new rights. But the officials said that formal, state-enforced segregation was gone in all but a few terminals. The familiar sig

Jan 24

James Farmer, Civil Rights Leader, Convicted of Breach of Peace in Mississippi

Jan. 24, 1962 - The national director of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was convicted of breach of peace in Jackson, Miss., today stemming from a freedom ride last May. A 12-man jury in Hinds County Court deliberated less than 5 minutes before convicting James Farmer. Judge Russel Moore sentenced Mr. Farmer to 4 months in prison and fined him $200. Mr. Farmer has been free under $500 appeal bond. Mr. Farmer was aboard a bus carrying Freedom Riders that arrived in Jack

Jan 23

Video: Debate between Malcolm X and Bayard Rustin

Jan. 23, 1962 - Here is video of a debate between Black Muslim Minister Malcolm X (right) and Bayard Rustin (left) of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The debate took place at Manhattan’s Community Church. #civilrights #civilrightsmovement #civilrightsactivist #civilrightsmuseum #civilrightsleader #civilrightsera #CivilRightsIcon #civilrightswalk #civilrightsactivists #civilrightsmovements #1960s #civilrightsphotography #MLK #podcast #mlkmemorial

Jan 23

Lunch Counters in Columbus, Georgia Desegregated with No Incidents

Jan. 23, 1962 - Lunch counters in Columbus, Ga., were quietly desegregated today. The city of 118,000, situated near Fort Benning, the largest Army infantry training center in the country, had desegregated its bus, train, and airline facilities earlier, without incident. Today’s move was carried out under a prearranged plan, after months of conferences between Negro leaders and city and store officials. Policemen in civilian clothes were stationed in advance at all locations.

Jan 20

NAACP Lawyer Talks Civil Rights Strategy for '62

Jan. 20, 1962 - Legal activity for civil rights this year will include an all-out desegregation drive in Mississippi, more numerous defenses of protest demonstrations, and moves to further school integration, according to Jack Greenberg (pictured), director of the legal defense and education fund of the NAACP. “Within the next year or two,” he said, “Mississippi will cover ground that took decades for the rest of the South.” He said legal inroads would be made on segregated p

Jan 17

Three Negro Churches Bombed in Birmingham

Jan. 16, 1962 - Three Negro churches in Birmingham, Ala., were bombed tonight. Two were damaged severely. Two of the bombings took place within minutes of each other in the Negro section of town shortly after 10 p.m. and a third several blocks away about 40 minutes later. The police said the latest explosion took place 100 yards from a police car. A policeman riding in the car was injured in the blast and was taken to a hospital. The final blast occurred at Trinity Church of

Jan 15

Controversy over Admissions Policy of Exclusive Cosmos Club

Jan. 15, 1962 - The Cosmos Club, by a voice vote, overwhelmingly put itself on record today as opposed to racial, color, or religious discrimination in the admission of new members. However, today’s action does not alter the rejection last week by the admissions committee of the proposed membership of Carl T. Rowan (pictured right), the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. Mr. Rowan, a well-known writer and journalist before joining the Kennedy Administrati

Jan 15

Congressman Lindsay Presses Kennedy on Civil Rights

Jan. 15, 1962 - Representative John V. Lindsay, Manhattan Republican, today wrote a letter to President Kennedy deploring “abandonment of solemn pledges” and urging issuance of an Executive Order on housing discrimination at once. When he was asked about the matter at his news conference today, the President said firmly that his Administration had made more progress on civil rights in the last 12 months than had been achieved in the previous 8 years. He noted that many more c

Jan 15

President Kennedy Addresses Delays on Negro Civil Rights

Jan. 15, 1962 - President Kennedy said today that he would act to advance Negro rights “in a way which will maintain a consensus” of national opinion on the problem. He made that point at his news conference when asked why he had delayed issuing an order against racial discrimination in Federally assisted housing. The President said that it was important not to move too fast in the field of race relations so as not to get too far ahead of public opinion. The implication was t

Jan 14

New Hearing on Negro's Right to Attend University of Mississippi

Jan. 14, 1962 - Federal Judge Sidney Mize is scheduled to open a final hearing tomorrow on Mississippi’s first integration lawsuit in the field of education. James Meredith (center), 29-year-old Negro Air Force veteran, filed suit last May to enter the University of Mississippi. Last Dec. 13, Judge Mize refused to issue a temporary injunction forcing Mr. Meredith’s immediate admittance to the university. He said there was no evidence that Mr. Meredith was rejected because he

Jan 6

In Georgia, a 15-year-old Negro boy, Preston Cobb Jr., Faces Death Sentence

Jan. 6, 1962 - In Georgia’s Reidsville Prison, a 15-year-old Negro boy, Preston Cobb Jr., is under sentence of death for killing a 70-year-old white farmer. There have been protests and appeals from all over the world. The issue is not the boy’s guilt but his age, and the state’s legal right to execute a child. In Georgia, the death penalty can be given to a child as young as 10. But Georgia is not alone in that category. All 50 states possess the power and authority to try c

Jan 1

President Hails Roy Wilkins of NAACP

Jan. 1, 1962 - President Kennedy hailed Roy Wilkins (pictured center in 1959 with Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall) of the NAACP this evening for “his work for freedom of all Americans.” The President sent a message to a Roosevelt Hotel dinner in New York at which 1,000 persons paid tribute to the NAACP executive secretary for 30 years’ service on the staff. “It is the nation as a whole,” the President said, “which should be congratulated tonight — for having a ma

Dec 28, 2021

Justice Department Wants Louisiana Voting Law Struck Down

Dec. 28, 1961 - The Justice Department asked a Federal court today to strike down a Louisiana law requiring voters to pass a constitutional interpretation test. A suit filed in New Orleans said the test was a device to keep Negroes from registering and voting. The disputed requirement was made a part of the Louisiana Constitution in 1921. This was the 15th voting case brought by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and his civil rights chief, Burke Marshall, this year. In the t