Reporting Civil Rights: American journalism, 1941-1963

Clayborne Carson, David J. Garrow, Bill Kovach, Carol Polsgrove

Library of America, 2003 - History - 996 pages

From A. Philip Randolph's defiant call in 1941 for African Americans to march on Washington to Alice Walker in 1973, Reporting Civil Rights presents firsthand accounts of the revolutionary events that overthrew segregation in the United States. This two-volume anthology brings together for the first time nearly 200 newspaper and magazine reports and book excerpts, and features 151 writers, including James Baldwin, Robert Penn Warren, David Halberstam, Lillian Smith, Gordon Parks, Murray Kempton, Ted Poston, Claude Sitton, and Anne Moody. A newly researched chronology of the movement, a 32-page insert of rare journalist photographs, and original biographical profiles are included in each volume

Roi Ottley and Sterling Brown record African American anger during World War II; Carl Rowan examines school segregation; Dan Wakefield and William Bradford Huie describe Emmett Till's savage murder; and Ted Poston provides a fascinating early portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. In the early 1960s, John Steinbeck witnesses the intense hatred of anti-integration protesters in New Orleans; Charlayne Hunter recounts the hostility she faced at the University of Georgia; Raymond Coffey records the determination of jailed children in Birmingham; Russell Baker and Michael Thelwell cover the March on Washington; John Hersey and Alice Lake witness fear and bravery in Mississippi, while James Baldwin and Norman Podhoretz explore northern race relations.

Singly or together, Reporting Civil Rights captures firsthand the impassioned struggle for freedom and equality that transformed America.

What people are saying

Review: Reporting Civil Rights, Part One: American Journalism 1941-1963 (Library of America #137)

User Review  - Jay Wigley - Goodreads

People often wonder what the difference between history and narrative is. This two volume set of the best in-the-moment writing about the Civil Rights Movement will show you. You'll likely never read ...

Review: Reporting Civil Rights, Part Two: American Journalism 1963-1973 (Library of America #138)

User Review  - Craig Werner - Goodreads

The first volume of the Library of America RCR tracks the rising energy of the Civil Rights Movement; volume 2 chronicles the decline into the chaos of the late 60s. It's a depressing read, but there ...

Contents

• March on Washington Committee Call to Negro: 1
• Tolly R Broady Will Two Good White: 11
• O Swingler Thrown from Train Attacked: 19

About the author

The advisory board for Reporting Civil Rights includes Clayborne Carson, senior editor, The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr.; David J. Garrow, Presidential Distinguished Professor, Emory University; William Kovach, chairman, Committee of Concerned Journalists; and Carol Polsgrove, professor of journalism, Indiana University.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Reporting Civil Rights: American journalism, 1941-1963; The Library of America, NY Library of America New York; Volume 1 of Reporting Civil Rights; Volume 1 of Reporting Civil Rights: Part One: American Journalism 1941-1963
• Authors: Clayborne Carson, David J. Garrow, Bill Kovach, Carol Polsgrove
• Editors: Clayborne Carson, David J. Garrow, Bill Kovach
• Compiled by: Clayborne Carson, David J. Garrow, Bill Kovach, Carol Polsgrove
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Library of America, 2003
• Original from: the University of Michigan
• Digitized: Aug 10, 2010
• Length: 996 pages
• Subjects: African Americans; African Americans/ Civil rights/ History/ 20th century/ Sources; African Americans/ Civil rights/ Press coverage; Afro-Americans; Civil rights movements; Civil rights movements/ United States/ History/ 20th century/ Sources; History / United States / 20th Century; Journalism; Language Arts & Disciplines / Journalism; Political Science / General; Political Science / Political Freedom & Security / Civil Rights; Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General; United States