Close
Not finding the information you're looking for? Please contact the Archives research staff.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-OWH-01
In this interview Hill discusses working on John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] 1960 presidential campaign; the negative reaction to Lyndon B. Johnson as the vice-presidential candidate in the South and among African-Americans; difficulties for the Southern operations of the JFK campaign; getting the African-American vote in the South for JFK in the 1960 election; working with and around different civil rights groups and leaders in the 1960 campaign; other campaign staff members at the federal and state levels; attempts to solve the problem of discrimination in housing during JFK’s Administration; the Federal Housing Administration, including staff and directives and projects in the South; the President’s Committee on Equal Opportunities in Housing; and the 1962 executive order in housing, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-AEH-02
In this interview Henry discusses how he first got involved in civil rights activity and how he became an active leader in the NAACP; contact with the Justice Department during the Dwight D. Eisenhower Administration; the FBI investigation into Henry and into the civil rights movement; Henry’s relationship with Medgar Evers; voting rights and voter registration campaigns; beatings and killings of activists in Mississippi; the NAACP and the 1960 presidential election; Jim Silver; Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders; labor movement leadership and the NAACP in the sixties; the relationships among the various civil rights organizations, including the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, SCLC, and SNCC; organizing boycotts of certain stores; Henry’s arrest in 1961; and the disappearance and murder of Andrew Goodman, Mickey Schwerner, and James Chaney in 1964, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-WBH-01
In this interview Hartsfield discusses the 1960 presidential election; the sit-in demonstrations in Atlanta in the fall of 1960; Martin Luther King’s arrest in Atlanta; the meeting between Hartsfield and the demonstrators; the idea to have John F. Kennedy [JFK] speak out to have King released from jail; proposing this idea to the Democratic National Committee; the reaction in the national press to JFK’s supposed intervention on behalf of King; JFK’s immediate acceptance of the plan; John C. Calhoun and the Republican National Committee’s unwillingness to get Richard M. Nixon similarly involved; and other memories of JFK, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-LRC-01
Collins discusses the 1960 Democratic National Convention, John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign and relationship with the South, and the broadcasting industry’s fight for free access to information for use in broadcasting, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-BIB-02
Bernhard discusses committees on equal employment, discrimination in housing, and the discrimination in the military, as well as his relations with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's attempts to discredit King.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-TWJB-01
The Bradens discuss their roles in John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign and Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign; California politics; humorous anecdotes about the Kennedy family; and Robert F. Kennedy’s speech in Indianapolis on the night Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, among other issues.
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-KCK-01
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-05
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] and Marshall discuss how John F. Kennedy [JFK] and RFK grew increasingly more involved with and concerned about civil rights; getting Martin Luther King out of jail during JFK’s 1960 campaign; civil rights advisers during JFK’s 1960 campaign; RFK becoming Attorney General amidst the civil rights battle and the transitional period in the Department of Justice [DOJ]; how Marshall got his position in the DOJ; the struggle over school desegregation; the New Orleans school crisis of February 1961; the Freedom Riders and violence against them; sending federal marshals to Alabama; trying to find a bus driver to get the Freedom Riders out of Birmingham, Alabama; criticism of RFK’s response to the Freedom Riders; how Freedom Riders were arrested and threatened in Mississippi; African-American voting rights in the South and DOJ authority; difficulties with judges; Supreme Court appointments; the FBI and organized crime; reorganization of the DOJ; RFK’s interactions with the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover after JFK’s death; Hoover’s allegations about JFK and the Kennedy family; the alleged FBI wiretapping of officials; JFK’s opinion of Hoover; FBI press releases; connecting the civil rights movement with communism to discredit it; FBI involvement in civil rights matters; issues with the FBI as having civilian control of a police force; JFK’s communication with King and other civil rights leaders; civil rights legislation; the issue of equal employment; the Civil Rights Commission; and violence against African Americans in Birmingham in the spring of 1963, 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.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-LEM-02
In this interview Martin discusses African American voters in the 1960 presidential election; dealing with African American press during John F. Kennedy's [JFK] 1960 presidential campaign; Lyndon B. Johnson’s vice-presidential nomination and African American press; getting prominent African Americans to endorse JFK; the telephone call from JFK to Coretta Scott King, 1960; and mobilizing the African American vote for JFK in different American cities in 1960, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-LEM-01
In this interview Martin discusses joining John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] 1960 presidential campaign and his role, including working with other campaign staff members; JFK and civil rights; using the issue of civil rights in the campaign; African-American leadership and the Democratic Party in the 1960 campaign; getting civil rights leaders involved in the 1960 campaign; and the National Conference on Constitutional Rights, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-SEV-01
Vandiver discusses his role in John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] presidential campaign in Georgia (1960), JFK’s push to gain southern support during this campaign, JFK’s policies regarding civil rights, and events that occurred during his presidency, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HLW-03
Wofford discusses the “talent search” after John F. Kennedy's election, and Kennedy administration appointees; Lyndon B. Johnson’s civil rights work as vice president; FBI wiretaps of Martin Luther King, Jr.; and the Civil Rights Commission.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HLW-01
Wofford discusses civil rights issues during the 1960 campaign; contacts between the Kennedy campaign, Martin Luther King, and other civil rights leaders and John F. Kennedy's 1960 phone call to Coretta Scott King during her husband’s imprisonment in Georgia.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HGB-01
Belafonte discusses the development of his political awareness, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and others in the civil rights movement, and collaboration and conflict with John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-BM-01
Marshall discusses violence in Alabama in May 1961 during the Freedom Rides, the situation in Birmingham, negotiations with Governor Patterson, the decision to send federal marshals to Montgomery, and federal protection for Martin Luther King, Jr.