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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-JRL-01
In this interview Lewis discusses President John F. Kennedy on civil rights; Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] as Attorney General and civil rights; working on RFK’s 1968 presidential campaign; RFK’s assassination, 1968; J. Edgar Hoover and FBI investigations of the civil rights movement; discrimination, hatred, and violence; and the march from Selma to Montgomery and “Bloody Sunday,” 1965, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-07
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] and Marshall discuss the very limited proposal for voting rights legislation before the demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama; how civil rights groups did not always understand politics or how to get things through Congress; John F. Kennedy [JFK] trying to explain political difficulties to civil rights leaders; meetings on civil rights legislation and the strategy for getting the votes for a civil rights bill in both houses of Congress; RFK’s disagreements with Lyndon B. Johnson on civil rights legislation; RFK, the Justice Department, and the reapportionment cases; RFK’s meeting with James Baldwin and the subsequent attack on RFK in the press; JFK’s role in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963; speeches at the March on Washington; George Wallace, Alabama state troopers, and the investigation into the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, September, 1963; and JFK, James J. Delaney, and the issue of aid to church schools, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-LEM-03
In this interview Martin discusses helping fill government positions after John F. Kennedy [JFK] is elected President, 1960; the appointment of African American judges, including Thurgood Marshall to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; providing African American candidates for different agency positions; civil rights crises during JFK’s Administration; Lee White as the White House advisor on civil rights; the civil rights bill introduced in 1963; religious groups in the civil rights movement; the issue of “white backlash”; and working for President JFK versus working for President Lyndon B. Johnson, among other issues.
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1963-08-28-C
AR39, ST28
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-MTG-108-002
Sound recording of a meeting held on August 28, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Civil Rights Leaders: Roy Wilkins, A. Philip Randolph, Walter Reuther, Whitney Young, Floyd McKissick, Eugene Carson Blake, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis, and other unidentified participants. Wilkins, Randolph, and the other civil rights leaders initially report to President Kennedy on the March on Washington, but then turn the conversation to the pending civil rights legislation in Congress and the need for action to ensure equality. President Kennedy reviews a head count of votes in Congress on the administration's bill and legislative strategy. Martin Luther King speaks briefly. Randolph calls for a crusade with President Kennedy as its leader. Vice President Johnson explains the realities of political power in relation to Congress--how to craft a coalition of support, pressure on business leaders, approaches to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, etc. There is also a discussion of the right of African Americans in the military to demonstrate. At the end of the meeting, there is a coordination of statements on the completion of the meeting and President Kennedy reads the statement he intends to release. Please note that this Civil Rights Meeting recording was opened to research use in July of 1984. This sound recording has been excerpted from Tape 108, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding and following this one. See Related Records to access Tape 108 in its entirety.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-C277-1-63
President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson meet with organizers of "The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” in the Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C. Left to right: Secretary of Labor, Willard Wirtz; Executive Director of the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice, Mathew Ahmann; President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; representative for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), John Lewis; President of the American Jewish Congress, Rabbi Joachim Prinz; President of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC), Reverend Eugene Carson Blake; President of the Negro American Labor Council (NALC), A. Philip Randolph; President Kennedy; Vice President Johnson; President of United Auto Workers (UAW), Walter P. Reuther; President of the National Urban League, Whitney M. Young, Jr.; National Chairman of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Floyd McKissick.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR8090-C
Civil rights leaders speak to members of the press following a meeting with President John F. Kennedy regarding "The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” held earlier that day. Left to right: President of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC), Reverend Eugene Carson Blake (on edge of frame); Executive Director of the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice, Mathew Ahmann (wearing glasses, head turned); unidentified (back to camera); President of the National Urban League, Whitney M. Young, Jr.; Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Roy Wilkins (partially hidden); President of the Negro American Labor Council (NALC), A. Philip Randolph (speaking at microphones); representative for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), John Lewis (behind Randolph); President of United Auto Workers (UAW), Walter P. Reuther; President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; President of the American Jewish Congress, Rabbi Joachim Prinz; several unidentified reporters. White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR8090-B
Civil rights leaders speak to members of the press following a meeting with President John F. Kennedy regarding "The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” held earlier that day. Left to right: President of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC), Reverend Eugene Carson Blake; unidentified (back to camera); President of the National Urban League, Whitney M. Young, Jr.; President of the Negro American Labor Council (NALC), A. Philip Randolph; unidentified man (in back); Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Roy Wilkins (speaking at microphones); President of United Auto Workers (UAW), Walter P. Reuther; President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; President of the American Jewish Congress, Rabbi Joachim Prinz; several unidentified reporters. White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR8090-A
President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson meet with organizers of "The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” in the Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C. Left to right: Secretary of Labor, Willard Wirtz; National Chairman of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Floyd McKissick; Executive Director of the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice, Mathew Ahmann; President of the National Urban League, Whitney M. Young, Jr.; President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; representative for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), John Lewis; President of the American Jewish Congress, Rabbi Joachim Prinz; President of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC), Reverend Eugene Carson Blake; President of the Negro American Labor Council (NALC), A. Philip Randolph; President Kennedy; Vice President Johnson; President of United Auto Workers (UAW), Walter P. Reuther; Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Roy Wilkins.