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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-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.