Source Report:
Civil Rights During the Kennedy Administration
and
Civil Rights During the Johnson Administration:
What is it?
Civil Rights During the Kennedy Administration is a microfilm collection of documents gathered from the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts, focusing on the executive papers of the Kennedy administration.
Civil Rights During the Johnson Administration is a microfilm collection of documents gathered from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library in Austin, Texas, focusing on the executive papers of the Johnson administration.
When was it made? By whom? Why?
Civil Rights During the Kennedy Administration was made available by the University Publications of America in conjunction with the John F. Kennedy Library in 1986. As Carl Brauer states in the introduction to the Civil Rights During the Kennedy Administration guide, the collection showcases "the Kennedy administration's efforts to use executive action to reduce or eliminate discrimination in public transportation and public accommodations, federally assisted housing, education, and employment."
Civil Rights During the Johnson Administration was made available by the University Publications of America in conjunction with the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library in 1984. As Steven Lawson states in the introduction to the Civil Rights During the Johnson Administration guide, the purpose of the collection is "to gather a selection of major documents from three key types of records at the Johnson Library - White House Central Files and Aides Files, the Administrative History of an important agency, and oral histories - and to make these readily available to scholars everywhere."
Who appears in it?
A wide range of people and organizations appear in the Civil Rights During the Kennedy Administration collection. For much of the collection, documents are organized chronologically, with various Executive departments as well as Congress appearing in the collection. Furthermore, there are a number of Civil Rights leaders who appear in the collection, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Roy Wilkins, as well as numerous Civil Rights organizations, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP).
The Civil Rights During the Johnson Administration collection is very similar to the Kennedy collection in that it too contains Executive material such as the White House Staff, as well as Congress. Secondly, the collection also contains material from the general public addressed to the President.
How is it organized?
Civil Rights During the Kennedy Administration is divided into three sources found at the John F. Kennedy Library: The White House Central Files, the White House Staff Files, and the President's Office Files.
Civil Rights During the Johnson Administration is divided into five sources found at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, of which the Bowdoin College Library has three:
Part I: The White House Central Files and Aides Files
Part III: Oral Histories
Part V: Records of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders(Kerner Commission).
How do you use it? Does it have finding aids or supplemental material?
Both collections can be used in the microfilm viewing room at Bowdoin College Library.
The Civil Rights During the Kennedy Administration has a microfilm index entitled Civil Rights During the Kennedy Administration, 1961-1963, edited by Carl Brauer. The Kennedy collection can also be supplemented with James Harvey's book entitled Civil Rights During the Kennedy Administration, which can be found at the Bowdoin College Library.
The Civil Rights During the Johnson Administration has a microfilm index entitled Civil Rights During the Johnson Administration, 1963-1969, edited by Steven Lawson. The Johnson collection can also be supplemented with James Harvey's book entitled Black Civil Rights During the Johnson Administration, which can be found at Bowdoin College Library.
What kinds of questions can it answer?
Both collections can answer an extremely wide range of questions regarding Civil Rights during the Movement itself. For any student or historian interested in studying the African American struggle for equality throughout America, these two collections can be very useful tools in answering many important questions, including any pertaining to how the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations furthered, or hindered, the African American cause. By providing the public with access to government papers concerning Civil Rights, the University Publication of America has provided an immensely productive tool for research in African American history in the second half of the twentieth century.