1960s Timeline

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, 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, 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, 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. 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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

Dec. 18, 1961 - Three hundred Negroes and a few whites tried to march on the State Office Building in New Orleans today. They were protesting the mass arrest of anti-segregation demonstrators last week in Baton Rouge. The police arrested 292 of them and broke up the demonstration. The Negroes began their march about 6 p.m., in the midst of rush-hour traffic in downtown New Orleans. The police rushed in all available motorcycle units. One policeman said: “We’re herding them [N

Dec. 18, 1961 - An agreement reached in Albany, Ga., paved the way for the release of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and about 300 other Negroes (pictured) from prison. The plan calls for ending mass protests and an organized boycott against white merchants. In return for these concessions, Mayor Asa D. Kelley and other officials agreed to take the following steps: - Assure police compliance with an I.C.C. ruling against segregation in bus and rail terminals. - Release a

Dec. 16, 1961 - The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 264 other Negroes, and 1 white youth were arrested today as they marched on City Hall for a prayer demonstration in Albany, Ga. All were jailed. There was no violence, despite the tension aroused by week-long racial controversy and the breakdown of negotiations between white and Negro leaders aimed at restoring this city of 56,000 persons to normal. Today’s demonstration was mainly in protest against the city’s refusal to r

Dec. 15, 1961 - The police used tear gas to break up demonstrations today by 1,500 Negroes in the main business district of Baton Rouge, La. Fifty Negroes were arrested on charges of having been disorderly. Today’s disturbance began as a protest against the arrest yesterday of 23 Negroes for having picketed downtown stores and having staged sit-ins at lunch counters. The demonstrators today were mostly students from Southern University, the largest all-Negro institution of hi

Dec. 15, 1961 - A 58-year-old Jackson Negro grocer said today he would oppose Representative John Bell Williams in the Fourth District Congressional race in Mississippi next year. The Negro, Robert L.T. Smith, was among the four persons who filed a Federal court suit several months ago seeking to halt state donations to the pro-segregation Citizens Councils. Mr. Smith would be the first Negro to run for Congress in Mississippi since the Reconstruction era. Associates said Mr.

Dec. 14, 1961 - National Guardsmen were called out today as negotiators sought to resolve a crisis over mass arrests of Negro demonstrators in Albany, Ga. The 150 Guardsmen called began reporting to their armory shortly after the fifth demonstration of the week had brought the desegregation of the Trailways Bus Terminal. Negotiations between white and Negro leaders were suspended temporarily today as the result of a report that one of the jailed Negroes had been beaten. He is

Dec. 13, 1961 - In Albany Ga., the police arrested 202 Negroes this evening during a demonstration at the City Hall as racial tension mounted in this southwest Georgia city. Handbills distributed to the overflow crowd at the Shiloh Baptist Church urged full support for a boycott of 12 major drug, variety, and department stores operated by whites. Police Chief Laurie Pritchett (pictured) called it a “very explosive situation” after the arrests and asserted that it could “erupt

Dec. 12, 1961 - Two hundred and sixty-seven young Negroes were arrested while marching and singing through downtown Albany, Ga., today. They were charged with disorderly conduct, obstructing traffic, and failing to obey an officer as they paraded in support of 11 Freedom Riders who went on trial in City Court this morning. Most were high school and college students. Bond on the charges was set at $200, but only a few were released. Many said they intended to stay in jail unti