For Immediate Release: January 8, 1998
Further information: Tom McNaught (617) 514-1662
Boston— The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum today announced its plans for a major symposium to commemorate the dramatic events surrounding the struggle for civil rights in 1963.
Members of President Kennedy’s administration and key players and activists who participated in such historic events as the demonstrations in Birmingham, the integration of the University of Alabama, the drafting of the Civil Rights Act, and the March on Washington will gather at the Kennedy Library on April 29 to commemorate the 35th anniversary of that landmark year.
The Kennedy Library symposium, “Facing a Moral Crisis — The Struggle for Civil Rights in 1963,” will feature panel discussions among many of the men and women who played courageous and creative roles in the massive historical changes that took place in America in 1963.
Among those who have already committed to participate in the Kennedy Library symposium are James Farmer, Myrlie Evers-Williams, Burke Marshall, Ted Sorensen, Nick Katzenbach, Tony Lewis, Jack Greenberg, Vivian Malone Jones, Julian Bond and John Lewis.
“The Kennedy Library is very proud of the programming it has planned to commemorate the historic events of 1963 when the United States confronted the greatest moral crisis of the time -- the continued denial of fundamental civil rights to black Americans,” said Caroline Kennedy, President of the Kennedy Library Foundation. “It is our hope that by celebrating the leadership and vision of the men and women who helped change the direction of the nation in such a turbulent time, we might inspire a new generation of Americans seeking to make a difference in today’s world.”
Kennedy Library Public Forum Series
The Kennedy Library also announced that it will devote many of its ongoing public and educational programs in 1998 to commemorate the civil rights movement. Included among these programs will be an ambitious series of forums this spring which will include a look at: “The Impact of Television on the Civil Rights Movement”; “Taylor Branch, author of Pillar of Fire, America in the King Years, 1963-1964”; “The Role of Southern Political Leaders in Desegregation”; “The Churches as Organizing Institutions in the Civil Rights Movement”; “Music as a Weapon in the Fight for Equality”; and “Boston’s Black Community and the Struggle for Civil Rights.”
Children’s Programming During Black History Month
As part of its special programming for children during Black History Month, the Kennedy Library will host “Celebrate! Black History and Culture” during the school vacation week of February 16-20. The week-long series of performances for children aged 5 and older will celebrate African and African-American history and culture with some of the country’s most noted storytellers, singers, musicians, artists and dancers. The new program seeks to promote a greater awareness of and admiration for America’s rich cultural diversity among children.
Civil Rights Film Series
The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum will also present free screenings of a series of documentary films which chronicle the civil rights movement in America. The films, taken primarily from the Library’s audio-visual archives, include rarely seen television coverage and footage of some of the most dramatic events of the early 1960s, including news coverage on the assassination of Medgar Evers; the integration of the Universities of Mississippi and Alabama; the March on Washington; the civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama; and President Kennedy's televised address to the nation on June 11, 1963. The films will run continuously throughout the day on January 19 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and every weekend in February, starting at 11:30 am. They will also be screened daily throughout the school vacation week of February 16-20.
New Museum Exhibits Featuring the Civil Rights Movement
The Kennedy Library’s commemoration of the struggle for civil rights will also include a special Museum display of documents from the Library’s archives chronicling the leadership role of black civil rights leaders in 1963 and a special exhibit demonstrating the use of diplomatic occasions by President and Mrs. Kennedy to promote and spotlight the African Independence Movement. The Museum’s current exhibit on Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy will also be expanded this spring to better represent the leadership role played by the President’s brother in mobilizing the forces of the Justice Department to assist the civil rights movement.
Other Educational Programming Celebrating the Civil Rights Movement
The Library’s American History Project for High School Students will hold workshops to introduce high school students to the techniques of historical research, using archival material from 1963 and the civil rights movement to analyze the massive historical changes that took place as the nation confronted racial segregation and discrimination. The Library’s Senior Seminars will invite senior citizens to review their collective memories of the events of 35 years ago and to analyze what has happened since 1963 to make ours a more cohesive, productive society; and the Summer Institute, an intensive two-week program for teachers sponsored by the Kennedy Library and UMass Boston, will be devoted to examining the impact of the events of 1963 on American culture, politics and society.
The Kennedy Library has been planning the Civil Rights Symposium and related programs for more than a year. It has been aided by a special committee — chaired by Kennedy Library Foundation board member Mary Reed — whose members include Henry Hampton, Glendora Putnam, Ruth Batson, Tyra Sidberry, Wil Haygood, Judge Gordon Martin, Marva Nathan, and Dr. Gloria White-Hammond. The Civil Rights symposium is being supported in part by the Kennedy Library Foundation’s Charles U. Daly and Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Funds.