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A Female Civil Rights Organizer Condemns "Jane Crow"
Pauli Murray entered law school in 1941 with the "single-minded intention of destroying Jim Crow." Murray and her peers, though on the frontlines of civil rights demonstrations and behind the scenes of many organizational meetings since the 1940s, [...]
An Activist Explains the Conflicted Role of Women in the March on Washington
Dorothy Height became active in civil rights causes in the 1930s, working towards anti-lynching legislation, desegregation of the military, and other issues. In 1957 she was elected the president of the National Council of Negro Women, and was the [...]
A Feminist Draws Parallels Between African Americans' and Women's Rights
The March on Washington and other demonstrations finally brought Congress close to passing a sweeping civil rights bill in 1964. At the last moment, and to the surprise of many, "sex" was added to the clause that would prevent employment [...]
Freedom's Daughters (Excerpt)
Lynne Olson's Freedom's Daughters shines light on the often-overlooked role that women played in the civil rights movement. In the preface to her book, Olson sketches some brief biographies of a few of the outstanding female civil rights leaders and [...]
Portrait of Christine Jorgensen
Christine Jorgensen, born George W. Jorgensen Jr., was an army clerical worker during World War II. After the war, she underwent sex reassignment surgery in Denmark. Jorgensen became well-known after numerous media outlets published stories about [...]
Bayard Rustin Describes the Fellowship of Reconciliation
Bayard Rustin was a gay civil rights activist who was particularly passionate about racial equality. He helped to organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of which Martin Luther King Jr. was a president, and which influenced the civil [...]
Mugshot of Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was a gay civil rights activist who was particularly passionate about racial equality. He helped to organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of which Martin Luther King Jr. was a president and which influenced the Civil [...]
Pat Bond Describes the Military Purge of LGBTQ+ Service Members
Pat Bond was a member of the Women’s Army Corps (a WAC) during World War II. As a lesbian, she risked a “blue discharge” from the army if she was discovered. Blue discharges were highly stigmatized penalties for alleged dishonorable behavior [...]
LGBTQ+ Students Organize Anti-War Protest
Anti-war sentiment rose across the country in the midst of the Vietnam War for a variety of reasons, including pacifism, anti-imperialism, solidarity with the Vietnamese, and even a desire by some young people not to be drafted. Many anti-war [...]
Poster for the Observance of LGBTQ+ Veterans
HIV is a viral disease which affects the immune system, and causes AIDS. In 1981, the HIV/AIDS epidemic hit the United States, disproportionately affecting the LGBTQ+ community. LGBTQ+ veterans, who were equally sickened by the disease, used their [...]