Legal Battles

During the era of Reconstruction, black Americans' political rights were affirmed by three constitutional amendments and numerous laws passed by Congress. Racial discrimination was attacked on a parti…

This 1936 photograph—featuring eight of the nine Scottsboro Boys with NAACP representatives Juanita Jackson Mitchell, Laura Kellum, and Dr. Ernest W. Taggart—was taken inside the prison where the Scot…

Two charts discussing civil rights court cases; taken from an article by John P. Frank, titled "The United States Supreme Court," from a 1947 issue of "University of Chicago Law Review.

Typed draft of speech for the National Lawyers Guild on the historical atmosphere in the United States before and after the 14th Amendment was adopted.

Concerning the necessity of laws to provide for equal rights for all, despite race, color, creed, national origin, or political beliefs.

The celebrate Sweatt case, a suit seeking admission of Heman Marion Sweatt to the law school of the University of Texas, will be argued in the United States Supreme Court dur ing the week of January 3…

Photograph of Heman Sweatt standing in line amongst several Caucasian men at the Registration Office at the University of Texas at Austin. 1 photograph : negative, b 5 x 4 in.

Text on reverse: "Negroes Seek Admission to University, Six negroes applied for enrollment in the University of Oklahoma in a move to break down the state's racial segregation in education. The six, s…

Classroom scene with G.W. McLaurin seated in a desk near the back behind all-white audience. McLaurin sued to gain admittance to University of Oklahoma to pursue his doctorate in education. After he w…

Describing the background, history, and effects of Senate Rule 22, and outlining "the way out," to essentially "organize delegations to all Senators at once, before the new Senate convenes.

This resolution passed by the Greensboro City Board of Education on May 18, 1954 states that the board will "instruct the Superintendent [Benjamin L. Smith] to study and report to the Board regarding…

These interviews were conducted by Special Collections staff to complement a Levine Museum of the New South award winning exhibit titled “Courage: The Carolina Story That Changed America,” which was m…

A copy of the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States on cases of segregation in public schools as ruled on May 17, 1954.

Newspaper caption attached to print verso states: "Linda Brown eventually took a job in the Topeka, Kan., school system. Local identification number: AJCP552-029b Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photogra…

Six cases involving the constitutional rights of Negroes were argued in federal court last week by attorneys for the N. A. A. C. P. Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Four were school cases, one invo…

Entry describing the court case Aaron v. Cooper, a follow-up desegregation case that laid out a course of action for implementing desegregation in public schools. This landmark case that thwarted atte…

This item is a copy of a motion filed on behalf of James Meredith against the University of Mississippi.

In this WSB newsfilm clip from October 1963, the president of the Fulton County Young Republican Club, identified as Mr. Thornwell, speaks to a reporter about proposed civil rights legislation; Atlant…

Printed on verso: Discuss Civil Rights Legislation -- U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy (right) discusses provisions of the proposed Civil Rights Act of 1963 with Senator Warren Magnuson, chairman…

Optical sound. Title supplied by cataloger. Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.

Letter dated July 26, 1963 from Lawrence N. Jones, Fisk University's Dean of Chapel, to United States senator Albert Gore. The letter is written on Jones's professional letterhead. In the letter, Jone…

Records collected by the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission on attempts to defeat the 1964 Civil Rights act, beginning in the summer of 1963 when the legislation was first introduced. Much of the corr…

This item is a memorandum from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to President John F. Kennedy regarding proposed civil rights legislation. The memo contains handwritten notations by the President and…

Title supplied by cataloger. Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.

President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Bill at the White House After criticizing President John F. Kennedy for failing to advance civil rights legislation, King was elated when Kennedy addres…

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law July 2nd the nation's most sweeping civil rights bill since "reconstruction days.

An article from the St. Augustine Record discussing the increased power of the federal district court in civil rights cases. It discusses the loss of power felt from county and state courts and how lo…

Document highlights the legal cases involving groups of defendants, in particular the St. Augustine Four. The first events described in putting the "Court on Notice of an attack" involved a group of c…

The legal case brought by COFO, relatives of two murdered civil rights workers, and others against the sheriff and deputy sheriff of Neshoba County, Mississippi--where the men were killed--and other M…

Records collected by the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission on the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The folder contains a pamphlet published by the National Lawyers Guild, a copy of the Congressional Record fro…

This document consists of the proceedings from the case, which was heard by a three judge panel: Judges Walter P. Gewin (5th Circuit Court of Appeals), Seybourn H. Lynne and H. Hobart Grooms (Northern…

In this WSB newsfilm clip from 1964, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund attorney Constance Baker Motley answers questions pertaining to the Willis vs. Pickrick Restaurant lawsuit and other cases…

Negative envelope: "Atlanta Skyline at Night. Heart of Atlanta Motel. October 13, 1964. J.C. Lee." During this time, the motel was owned by Atlanta attorney Moreton Rolleston Jr., who was an avid segr…

In this WSB newsfilm clip from Atlanta, Georgia on December 14, 1964, Moreton Rolleston, attorney and owner of the Heart of Atlanta Motel, speaks to a reporter about the United States Supreme Court de…

Photograph of U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965. Martin Luther King Jr. stands directly behind him. Other civil rights leaders and politicians s…

Born Caroline County, Virginia In 1963 Richard and Mildred Loving went to court to challenge the Virginia law that made their interracial marriage a crime. After marrying in Washington, D.C., in 1958…

July 1968.

This series presents a detailed documentation of the specific arguments, actions, and evidence brought forth before the court by plaintiffs and defendants as well as opinions, orders, and analyses of…

This series presents a detailed documentation of the specific arguments, actions, and evidence brought forth before the court by plaintiffs and defendants as well as opinions, orders, and analyses of…

The Civil Rights and Desegregation in Charlotte collection is a grouping of interviews that were conducted by UNC Charlotte Atkins Library Special Collections staff with activists for civil rights in…

This October 26, 1981 article by Martha Woodall of The Greensboro Record reports that Duke University Law Professor William Van Alstyne would be testifying before a congressional subcommittee about hi…

June 1983. Title from cover.

Childhood and education; military service; private law practice in San Francisco; Assistant U.S. District Attorney, Northern District, California, 1951-58; Legal Secretary to California Governor Edmun…

Oral history interview with Judge William Steele Sessions by St. Andrew's Episcopal School student Rebecca Cobbs. In this interview, the Honorable Sessions shows how the legal system enhanced the Civi…