Research Guides: African American Studies: Civil Rights

Songs Of The Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights Resources

FBI Surveillance Files
From Northwestern Library, a list of individual people and organizations that the FBI has profiled. Please see disclaimer attached.
more...less...
FBI Disclaimer
The FBI’s FOIA Library contains many files of public interest and historical value. In compliance with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements, some of these records are no longer in the physical possession of the FBI, eliminating the FBI’s capability to re-review and/or re-process this material. Please note, that the information found in these files may no longer reflect the current beliefs, positions, opinions, or policies currently held by the FBI.
Civil Rights Act (1964)
This 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. It was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. The Civil War officially abolished slavery, but it didn’t end discrimination against Black people—they continued to endure the devastating effects of racism, especially in the South. By the mid-20th century, Black Americans, along with many other Americans, mobilized and began an unprecedented fight for equality that spanned two decades.
Civil Rights Leaders
From the NAACP: "The hard-won advancements of civil rights were made possible by the struggle, commitment, and work of people who stood up to discrimination and white supremacy. We look to these heroes from our past for lessons and inspiration as we continue their important work into the future."
Civil Rights: Then and Now
From PBS Learning Meadia, This collection of videos, documents, audio, and multi-media includes topics such as: Fighting Segregation, Seeking Justice, Taking Action, Speaking Out, Combating Poverty, and Demanding Voting Rights.
People of The Civil Rights Movement
A list and biographic information about civil rights leaders in the 50's and 60's. An "Eyes on the Prize" article.

A History of the American Civil Rights Movement Through Newspaper Coverage
Call Number: eBook 2018
From the Cardinal Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling that desegregated U.S. public education to the demonstrations, marches, and violence of the civil rights movement, this eBook traces the crusade for justice through the lens of major newspaper coverage to reveal the combating sectional press attitudes of the era. This analysis of the press coverage of events and issues of that tumultuous period of U.S. history exposes perspectives and press routines that remain ingrained and thus relevant today, when journalistic treatment of political debate continues to set an often volatile and oppositional political agenda.
Black Manifesto; Religion, Racism, and Reparations
Call Number: E185.615.L4 - Sprague Library 2nd Floor
This is a collection of eight essays reflecting upon racism and the churches. The Black Manifesto, addressed "to the white Christian churches and the Jewish synagogues in the United States," was presented by James Forman to the Black Economic Development Conference in Detroit and adopted in April 1969. Among other things the Manifesto demanded that the churches and synagogues pay $500 million in "reparations to black people."
The Civil Rights Era
Call Number: JC599.U5 G685 1990 - Sprague Library 2nd Floor
Based on extensive research in the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon presidential archives, the National Archives, and special collections of the Library of Congress, this groundbreaking study recreates the intense debates in Congress and the White House that led to the breakthrough laws of 1964 and 1965--the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.