As part of its Amending America initiative, the National Archives and Records Administration presents a National Conversation on Civil Rights and Individual Freedom in partnership with the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 20-21, 2016.
This two-day event addressed the challenges to and future of civil rights and individual freedom, and featured a Q&A session with former President Jimmy Carter and Derreck Kayongo, CEO of the National Civil and Human Rights Center on Friday, May 20.
The “National Conversation on Rights and Justice” is presented in part by AT&T, Ford Foundation, Seedlings Foundation, and the National Archives Foundation.
Related Records in the National Archives
Revolutionary War Pension Application of Cato Greene, 1820
Cato Greene—captured in Guinea, Africa, and sold into slavery in Rhode Island—fought in the Revolutionary War “to obtain his freedom.” Greene’s discharge papers record that he served in Rhode Island regiments for five years and was discharged from the Continental Army in 1783 by Gen. George Washington. Greene died in 1826 at the age of 86.
Letter from Timothy P. Patterson to President Calvin Coolidge, 1923
Nearly five years after the end of World War I, African-American veteran Timothy Percy Patterson wrote to President Calvin Coolidge. “I served eighteen months in the World’s War. On the 11th day of Nov. 1918, on the Battlefield in France I heard much discussion about we being at peace. I beg to inform that I still have no peace.”
Letter from Andrew S. Evans to President Truman, 1949
Andrew S. Evans wrote to President Harry S. Truman to voice his opposition to racially segregated playgrounds. The 11-year-old lived only “about three yds. from a white playground,” he wrote. But he was prohibited from using the playground and had to go to one “4 or 5 blocks away.” Evans requested a response from Truman.
Letter from Arden Rappaport to President Truman, 1952
As head of the Florida NAACP, Harry T. Moore tirelessly protested lynchings and discrimination. He led a voter registration drive that added more than 100,000 African American voters. In 1951, on Christmas night, Moore’s house was bombed—killing him and his wife, Harriette. The attack shocked many Americans. Among those who expressed their outrage was Arden Rappaport…
Letter from Jackie Aaker to President Eisenhower, 1956
On February 17, 1956, eight-year-old Jackie Aaker wrote to President Eisenhower about the case “when the negro boy was killed.” This was likely a reference to the murder of Emmett Till on August 28, 1955. Aaker wrote, “I think you should do something about it!”
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964, prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. This document was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.
