What was the American Civil Rights Movement?
MA, History (University of Edinburgh)
Date Published: 04.06.2024,
Last Updated: 05.06.2024
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Definition
Between February and May 1960, more than 100 Black students (and a few white supporters) in Tennessee entered department stores and drugstores in downtown Nashville, and sat down at their lunch counters. These students were on a mission: to protest racial segregation. The Nashville Christian Leadership Council and the Nashville Student Movement organized the sit-ins as part of the wider sit-in campaign across the Southern United States. Over a hundred students were arrested during the sit-ins when they refused to leave, facing racial slurs and beatings in their fight for equality. These sit-ins were some of the earliest peaceful, direct-action demonstrations to end racial segregation as part of the wider American civil rights movement and their success encouraged active participation in the movement.
During the 1950s and 1960s in the United States, the American civil rights movement advanced social and political reforms concerning racial segregation and voting rights for Black Americans. After the American Civil War ended in 1865 and slavery was abolished, Black Americans continued to face discrimination due to the color of their skin. Tired of being mistreated and abused, Black people rallied together and stood up against the oppression they faced on a daily basis. Reflecting on what was in store for the movement, Bruce J. Dierenfield in The Civil Rights Movement (2013) states:
To make America live up to its promises of equality and justice for all, the civil rights movement would have to develop black consciousness, mobilize black churches and colleges, enlist northern white opinion, divide the white southern elite, capture the national Democratic party, and win over the Supreme Court, the White House, and Congress. Ultimately, justice could be achieved only when urban blacks applied enough pressure to force the federal government to impose change from above. Such pressure would be developed by trial-and-error and demand steep sacrifices over many years.
Bruce J. Dierenfield
To make America live up to its promises of equality and justice for all, the civil rights movement would have to develop black consciousness, mobilize black churches and colleges, enlist northern white opinion, divide the white southern elite, capture the national Democratic party, and win over the Supreme Court, the White House, and Congress. Ultimately, justice could be achieved only when urban blacks applied enough pressure to force the federal government to impose change from above. Such pressure would be developed by trial-and-error and demand steep sacrifices over many years.
This study guide will explore why the American civil rights movement began and how Black Americans mobilized in the fight for justice and equality. The guide will discuss key moments, influential leaders, and the legacy of the civil rights movement.
The Reconstruction era and the Jim Crow laws
In order to understand why the civil rights movement gained momentum in the United States, it is important to delve into the history leading up to the movement. After the American Civil War ended (1860–1865), the country entered the Reconstruction era (1865–1877). This period was meant to establish the reintegration of the Southern states, which belonged to the Confederacy, and the newly freed Black Americans into the United States. However, though Black Americans were now freed from slavery, they still faced an uphill battle. Southern states, with the backing of President Andrew Johnson’s administration, passed “Black Codes” in 1865 and 1866, which essentially controlled the labor opportunities and freedom of former slaves and other Black Americans. Black Americans faced judgment and mistreatment at the hands of such groups as the Ku Klux Klan, a far-right, white supremacist group linked to terrorism and hate crimes, which tortured and murdered Black Americans.
According to Thomas S. Kidd in American History (2019), after the Civil War, the mistreatment of Black Americans in the South only intensified:
Before the war, white supremacy could be more or less assumed, and whites were often divided among themselves between the rich and poor and between plantation owners and small farmers. But with emancipation the reassertion of white people’s dominance became a much more pressing issue. Memphis was stewing in racial tension in 1866, and a chance incident on a Memphis street between a white and a black carriage driver exploded into days of violence. White vigilantes destroyed blacks’ homes, churches, and schools. Fifty people died, almost all of them African Americans. New Orleans experienced similar horrors three months later, sparked by Republican efforts to give African Americans the vote.
Thomas S. Kidd
Before the war, white supremacy could be more or less assumed, and whites were often divided among themselves between the rich and poor and between plantation owners and small farmers. But with emancipation the reassertion of white people’s dominance became a much more pressing issue. Memphis was stewing in racial tension in 1866, and a chance incident on a Memphis street between a white and a black carriage driver exploded into days of violence. White vigilantes destroyed blacks’ homes, churches, and schools. Fifty people died, almost all of them African Americans. New Orleans experienced similar horrors three months later, sparked by Republican efforts to give African Americans the vote.
The New Orleans Race Riot of 1866, which Kidd refers to, was a response to Louisiana’s proposal to enfranchise former slaves and disenfranchise former Confederate soldiers. On July 30 of that year, Black suffrage supporters proceeded through a crowd of white supremacists. The procession turned into violence, leaving nearly 50 men, mainly Black men, dead and hundreds injured. As described in James G. Hollandsworth’s book An Absolute Massacre, this bloody conflict was proof that Southerners refused to accept Black people into their communities:
Coming as it did on the heels of similar eruptions in Memphis and Charleston, the New Orleans riot increased the perception in the North that white southerners were determined to unleash a reign of terror on the recently emancipated slaves. The barrage of self-congratulatory editorials in southern newspapers, which praised whites in New Orleans for giving a “salutary warning” that the South would never submit to Yankee rule, strengthened this conviction and persuaded northern voters that the South had refused to accept the verdict arrived at by four years of a bloody war. (2004)
James G. Hollandsworth
Coming as it did on the heels of similar eruptions in Memphis and Charleston, the New Orleans riot increased the perception in the North that white southerners were determined to unleash a reign of terror on the recently emancipated slaves. The barrage of self-congratulatory editorials in southern newspapers, which praised whites in New Orleans for giving a “salutary warning” that the South would never submit to Yankee rule, strengthened this conviction and persuaded northern voters that the South had refused to accept the verdict arrived at by four years of a bloody war. (2004)
Around 1877, Southern states decided to enact Jim Crow laws, which remained in place until the mid-1960s. Jim Crow laws ultimately enforced racial segregation and discrimination in communities. Segregation was in place in public facilities, like bathrooms, schools, pools, restaurants, hotels, and transportation. As indicated by Leslie V. Tischauser in Jim Crow Laws, the laws made sure that any place where white people and Black Americans might come into contact was segregated:
From the first years after the Civil War, African Americans faced laws that separated them from whites in almost every area they could possibly meet. Through Jim Crow laws, Southern legislatures attempted to reestablish the racial rules that applied during slavery times. “Jim Crow” meant more than the laws that created the system, however; the term really referred to an entire way of life, an entire culture. (2012)
Leslie V. Tischauser
From the first years after the Civil War, African Americans faced laws that separated them from whites in almost every area they could possibly meet. Through Jim Crow laws, Southern legislatures attempted to reestablish the racial rules that applied during slavery times. “Jim Crow” meant more than the laws that created the system, however; the term really referred to an entire way of life, an entire culture. (2012)
Though Jim Crow laws claimed to ensure “separate but equal” policies, in reality, facilities for Black Americans were often underfunded and in poor condition as compared to facilities for white people.
The brutality Black Americans faced as a result of Jim Crow laws can be seen in the murder of a fourteen-year-old boy named Emmett Till. From Chicago but visiting his family in Mississippi in the summer of 1955, he allegedly interacted with a white woman at a store, which was not only socially unacceptable in this part of the country but also banned under Jim Crow laws. Till was later mutilated and lynched due to this interaction. As Till’s mutilated face was printed in newspapers and made national news, the public was outraged. For civil rights activists, the images of Till’s mutilated body inspired Black Americans to fight for justice (Devery S. Anderson, Emmett Till, 2015).
As tensions grew in the 20th century in the South, Black Americans called for an end to segregation and discrimination, demanding better treatment in their communities. They also called for better job prospects, educational opportunities, equal opportunities in sports, and equality on public transportation and in public spaces. Black Americans had suffered decades of generational trauma from slavery and racism and were ready to speak out. Thus the civil rights movement was born.
Key campaigns in the movement
During the American civil rights movement, Black people across the South primarily utilized civil disobedience tactics and nonviolent resistance to stand up against the exploitation and violence they faced. In this section, we will cover some key campaigns within the fight for equality.
Brown v. Board of Education
As previously mentioned, the Jim Crow laws segregated white and Black Americans in public facilities, including schools. However, in 1954 this changed with Brown v. Board of Education. Three years earlier in 1951, Black American students attending Robert Russa Moton High School in Virginia decided that they had had enough of their segregated school district enforced by Jim Crow laws and demanded change. They explained that their school was overcrowded and inferior compared to schools where white students attended. With the support of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the students, led by 16-year-old Barbara Johns, worked to desegregate their school by staging a strike to protest the conditions of their school. To their surprise, in May 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregating public schools based on students’ race was ultimately unconstitutional.
In Brown v. Board of Education, Robert J. Cottrol, Raymond T. Diamond, and Leland B. Ware describe the importance of the ruling, especially for the future of American politics:
Brown’s importance lay in its setting the nation’s law on the path of rejecting the kind of racial exclusion that had made African Americans a people apart since before the nation’s founding. The 1954 decision provided a foundation for later court decisions and legislative enactments that established a new set of norms concerning law and race [...] The decision would become a catalyst for profound changes in legal norms. It was able to do so in large part because of the remarkable courage of ordinary men and women [...] It also took great extraordinary courage for Negro parents after Brown to risk their children’s lives by sending them to the white schools that the Supreme Court claimed could no longer be segregated. (2024)
Robert J. Cottrol, Raymond T. Diamond, and Leland B. Ware
Brown’s importance lay in its setting the nation’s law on the path of rejecting the kind of racial exclusion that had made African Americans a people apart since before the nation’s founding. The 1954 decision provided a foundation for later court decisions and legislative enactments that established a new set of norms concerning law and race [...] The decision would become a catalyst for profound changes in legal norms. It was able to do so in large part because of the remarkable courage of ordinary men and women [...] It also took great extraordinary courage for Negro parents after Brown to risk their children’s lives by sending them to the white schools that the Supreme Court claimed could no longer be segregated. (2024)
The ruling in Brown v. Board of Education was important in the civil rights movement as it showed that positive change could be made in the legal system regarding the rights of Black Americans.
Later in November 1960, during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis in which there was intense public resistance due to the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, Ruby Bridges became the first Black student to attend a formerly segregated school in Louisiana. Although Bridges and the rest of her family suffered due to the decision to send her to a formerly whites-only school, facing abuse by segregationist protestors, they did find some support in their community. Some white families continued sending their children to the school to stand in solidarity with Bridges and community members protected the family as they went about their daily routines. Bridges’ teacher, Barbara Henry, came from Boston to teach her and Henry spent the entire year with just Bridges as her pupil, educating and protecting her (Ruby Bridges, This is Your Time, 2021).
The Montgomery bus boycott
The Montgomery bus boycott also impacted the trajectory of the American civil rights movement. Jim Crow laws thrived in Montgomery, Alabama, a state where Confederate ideology and the image of the Antebellum South were still going strong. (For more information on culture in the Antebellum South, see our guide "What is the Southern Renaissance?”). Here, there remained segregated on buses, a point of serious contention among Black Americans in Montgomery.
Because Black Americans were primarily employed in professions belonging to a lower income bracket, they were typically forced to rely on buses. However, they faced daily abuse on buses. Not only were Black Americans told to sit in the back of the bus, but they were at the mercy of the bus drivers’ authoritarian discretion. Cheryl Phibbs illustrates the mistreatment Black Americans encountered on buses, particularly in Montgomery, and how the abuse fueled racial tensions:
Many drivers would drive past a bus stop where blacks were waiting or drive off after the bus fare was paid in the front while the patron returned outside to reboard at the black entrance in the back. Some drivers would slam on their brakes to knock the standing passengers off balance or use guns to order black passengers off the bus for not having the correct change for the fare. Windows were opened on cold days to make riders uncomfortable. Once a driver closed the back door on a black woman and drove off with her arm stuck in the door. She was drug to the next stop before she could get on (The Montgomery Bus Boycott, 2009)
Cheryl Phibbs
Many drivers would drive past a bus stop where blacks were waiting or drive off after the bus fare was paid in the front while the patron returned outside to reboard at the black entrance in the back. Some drivers would slam on their brakes to knock the standing passengers off balance or use guns to order black passengers off the bus for not having the correct change for the fare. Windows were opened on cold days to make riders uncomfortable. Once a driver closed the back door on a black woman and drove off with her arm stuck in the door. She was drug to the next stop before she could get on (The Montgomery Bus Boycott, 2009)
In the spring of 1955, a teenage girl named Claudette Colvin decided to stand against the mistreatment she and other Black people faced on the buses in Montgomery. When asked to give up her seat for four white passengers, Colvin refused to move, even when instructed to do so by the police. She was eventually forcibly taken off the bus and sent to the city jail where she was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and refusal to abide by segregation laws (Phibbs, 2009). This incident incited anger amongst Black people in Montgomery as they began to revolt against the prejudice and maltreatment they endured on public transportation.
Colvin inspired others like Rosa Parks to fight bus segregation. In December of 1955, Parks boarded a bus after working all day at the Montgomery Fair Department Store. As the bus filled up, Parks was asked to give her seat to a white man. However, Parks argued that because she was sitting in the eleventh row where Black people were allowed to sit, it was within her rights to continue sitting there. Parks was eventually removed from the bus by two policemen and imprisoned for violating the Montgomery bus segregation laws. You can learn more about Black women's resistance movements and groups in our guides "What is Black Feminism?", "What is Intersectional Feminism?", and "What is Postcolonial Feminism?"
Parks’ arrest along with Colvin’s arrest spearheaded the Montgomery bus boycotts that subsequently ensued, with thousands of Black Americans participating. Civil rights leaders supported the boycotts as Black people refused to use the buses for 381 days until, in 1956, buses in Montgomery were desegregated (Darryl Mace, Rosa Parks, 2021). The bus boycotts inspired other civil rights activists across the South to participate in boycotts and demonstrations, all in an effort to desegregate the South.
Freedom rides
On 4 May 1961, the freedom rides began in Washington D.C., headed for the South. The freedom rides were protests in which Black and white activists sought to protest the segregation of bus terminals in the South. The plan was for the rides to finish in New Orleans, Louisiana to mark the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. These rides were organized by civil rights activists who chose to ride on interstate buses as they traveled through the South for a few weeks, all in an effort to test the Supreme Court decision held under Boynton v. Virginia (1960). The Supreme Court decision marked the end of passenger segregation on interstate buses as the court decided it was unconstitutional under the Interstate Commerce Act. These brave activists attempted to desegregate the South as they journeyed through the interstate system, since Southern states had ignored the Supreme Court’s ruling, and the government was not necessarily enforcing it. They focused on the desegregation of seating on buses, as well as the desegregation of restaurants, water fountains, waiting rooms, lunch counters, and restrooms in bus terminals (Barbara Luthi, The Freedom Riders Across Borders, 2022).
However, the freedom riders faced animosity as they worked towards their goal of equality. Illustrating the danger the freedom riders faced, James P. Marshall states,
The treatment of the freedom riders by southerners, official and unofficial, became a major concern of civil rights activists and federal government officials during this confrontation. Young movement activists wrote their last wills and testaments before boarding the buses, and Attorney General Kennedy looked for answers to his concerns. (The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and the Kennedy Administration, 1960-1964, 2018)
James P. Marshall
The treatment of the freedom riders by southerners, official and unofficial, became a major concern of civil rights activists and federal government officials during this confrontation. Young movement activists wrote their last wills and testaments before boarding the buses, and Attorney General Kennedy looked for answers to his concerns. (The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and the Kennedy Administration, 1960-1964, 2018)
The activists understood the risks they faced to their safety, yet remained steadfast in their decision to help desegregate the South. In one instance in Anniston, Alabama, a bus filled with activists was firebombed. Many of the activists were attacked by mobs, including the Ku Klux Klan, and many were imprisoned. Once the freedom riders arrived in Jackson, Mississippi on 24 May, they were arrested for entering “white-only” establishments. These activists were forced into crammed and filthy prison cells, all in the sweltering southern heat. However, despite the abuse they faced, their efforts were not in vain. By late 1961, a new order issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission ordered the complete desegregation of buses and bus terminals (Luthi, 2022).
The Civil Rights Act, 1964
In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed, stating that discrimination based on sex, gender, race, religion, and nationality was prohibited. It equalized voting rights and outlawed desegregation in public facilities and employment. This meant the overturning of the “separate but equal” policies of the Jim Crow laws in the South. The act was referred to by activist Martin Luther King Jr (who we will cover in the following section) as a “second emancipation”.
Despite the passing of the Civil Rights Act, in many areas, laws on discrimination were being enforced. As such, the civil rights movement continued. Discrimination remained and King sought to confront the lack of respect for the civil rights and labor rights of Black people in America.
Influential leaders in the movement
As Black Americans mobilized across the South, they were led by influential people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, who often put themselves in danger for justice. Though the two men took different approaches to gaining civil rights for Black Americans, with Martin Luther King Jr. promoting nonviolent, civil disobedience and Malcolm X supporting aggressive, direct action, both were clear in their goal: freedom for Black people in the South.
Martin Luther King Jr.
A leading activist in the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. strove to end segregation in the South through nonviolent resistance. With a background as a Baptist minister, he later became head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and helped lead the Montgomery bus boycotts (Jamie J. Wilson, Martin Luther King Jr., 2023). Perhaps most notably, King helped lead the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. This march proved influential for the civil rights movement as it identified key issues facing Black Americans and gained the attention of political leaders. Following the march, King and other civil rights leaders met with President Kennedy and held a press conference. The march was organized and nonviolent, proving that peaceful civil disobedience could work. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial moved the nation as he illustrated the need for a unified country bound in peace and nonviolence:
Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. (My Lord) Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time [applause] to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time [applause] to make justice a reality for all of God’s children. (Excerpted in Gary Younge, The Speech, 2013)
Gary Younge
Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. (My Lord) Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time [applause] to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time [applause] to make justice a reality for all of God’s children. (Excerpted in Gary Younge, The Speech, 2013)
The following clip shows Martin Luther King’s famous speech:
King participated in marches and demonstrations supporting civil rights, labor rights, and voting rights for Black Americans, including the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965 in which he confronted racism and noncompliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Though King was assassinated on 4 April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, his legacy lives on. His work for Black freedom and justice can be seen through the passing of civil rights bills and equal voting rights for Black Americans.
Malcolm X
Alongside Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X is recognized as one of the leading figures in the civil rights movement. Malcolm X was a Muslim leader who inspired many Black Americans in the 1960s to join the Nation of Islam. He participated in marches and protests, fervently supporting Black nationalism. He was seen as a mentor for young Black Americans, as he encouraged Black people to embrace their African identity and to stand up against white supremacy. While King supported nonviolence, Malcolm X believed in the power of confrontational, direct action for freedom. He felt that the peaceful civil rights movement would not bring about sustained change and found it difficult to comprehend how nonviolent protest was an adequate response to children being subjected to racist treatment in schools, churches, and college campuses, and targeted by bombers. In Malcolm X, A. B. Assensoh and Yvette M. Alex-Assensoh state,
[...] in comparison to what he saw in African liberation struggles, Malcolm went to the extent of ridiculing the American civil rights movement and its leaders. He asked them to travel to the African continent or the motherland to learn about how black leaders, including the leaders of nationalist liberation movements on the continent, were willing to shed blood to make sure that they received their freedom. In fact, he bemoaned the fact that it was only in the civil rights movement of America, in its struggle for freedom, that men and women would link up arms, sing Negro Spirituals, and also call for nonviolence, as Dr. King and his followers were adhering to Mohandas Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence. (2013)
A. B. Assensoh and Yvette M. Alex-Assensoh
[...] in comparison to what he saw in African liberation struggles, Malcolm went to the extent of ridiculing the American civil rights movement and its leaders. He asked them to travel to the African continent or the motherland to learn about how black leaders, including the leaders of nationalist liberation movements on the continent, were willing to shed blood to make sure that they received their freedom. In fact, he bemoaned the fact that it was only in the civil rights movement of America, in its struggle for freedom, that men and women would link up arms, sing Negro Spirituals, and also call for nonviolence, as Dr. King and his followers were adhering to Mohandas Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence. (2013)
In his speech titled “The Ballot or the Bullet,” given on April 3 1964, Malcolm X expresses the need for unity and action amongst Black Americans, and encourages Black people to think before they cast their ballots in the coming election:
If we don’t do something real soon, I think you’ll have to agree that we’re going to be forced either to use the ballot or the bullet. It’s one or the other in 1964. It isn’t that time is running out – time has run out! (Excerpted in 50 Speeches That Made the Modern World, 2016)
Edited by Andrew Burnet
If we don’t do something real soon, I think you’ll have to agree that we’re going to be forced either to use the ballot or the bullet. It’s one or the other in 1964. It isn’t that time is running out – time has run out! (Excerpted in 50 Speeches That Made the Modern World, 2016)
On 21 February 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated in New York City, leaving behind thousands of supporters around the world who believed in his activism. Though Malcolm X’s critics believe he incited hate and revolution and disrupted the unity of the civil rights movement, he inspired many Black people to participate in the movement and find strength in their African heritage.
Legacy of the movement
With the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and subsequent legislation, discrimination based on color, race, gender, religion, or nationality was outlawed and segregation was prohibited. The Voting Rights Act (1965), for example, suspended literacy and other registration tests that unfairly affected Black voters. One of the most influential laws passed at the end of the movement was the Civil Rights Act 1968, enacted in response to the uproar over the assassination of King The act banned discrimination around housing rental and sales, and made it a federal crime to intimidate or injure someone due to their race.
The American civil rights movement inspired people around the world to speak out against injustice and discrimination. For instance, the 1968 Civil Rights March in Londonderry, Northern Ireland found inspiration in the success of the civil rights movement in America, as activists utilized similar techniques seen in America to spread awareness for their cause.
However, to this day, Black Americans continue to face discrimination, as seen in the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in 2020, sparking numerous Black Lives Matter protests. As well as facing police brutality, Black people are also overrepresented in the prison system and are more likely to be wrongfully convicted than white people. You can learn more about the connection between racism and incarceration in our guide "What is Mass Incarceration?"
With education in schools and universities on such theories as critical race theory and racial formation theory, systemic racism and discrimination are being addressed. However, the need for action and change remains as minorities continue to face inequality in their day-to-day lives.
What was the American civil rights movement?
What instigated the American civil rights movement?
What is an example of a key event in the American civil rights movement?
Who was a key leader in the American civil rights movement?
Bibliography
Anderson, D. (2015) Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement. University Press of Mississippi. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/593340
Assensoh, A. and Alex-Assensoh, Y. (2013) Malcolm X: A Biography. Greenwood. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/4169045
Bridges, R. (2021) This is Your Time. ONE. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/3036867
Burnet, A. (ed.) 50 Speeches That Made the Modern World: Famous Speeches from Women’s Rights to Human Rights (2016). Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/3178778
Cottrol, R., Diamond, R. and Ware, L. (2024) Brown v. Board of Education: Caste, Culture, and the Constitution. University Press of Kansas. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/4320897
Dierenfield, B. (2013) The Civil Rights Movement: Revised Edition. Routledge. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1323638
Hollandsworth, J. (2004) An Absolute Massacre: The New Orleans Race Riot of July 30, 1866. LSU Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/877331
Kidd, T. (2019) American History, Volume 1. B&H Academic. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2693864
Lüthi, B. (2022) The Freedom Riders Across Borders: Contentious Mobilities. Routledge. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/3557870
Mace, D. (2021) Rosa Parks: A Life in American History. ABC-CLIO. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/4169872
Marshall, J. (2018) The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and the Kennedy Administration, 1960-1964: A History in Documents. LSU Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/876819
Phibbs, C. (2009) The Montgomery Bus Boycott: A History and Reference Guide. Greenwood. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/4168819
Tischauser, L. (2012) Jim Crow Laws. Greenwood. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/4169233
Wilson, J. (2023) Martin Luther King Jr.: A Life in American History. ABC-CLIO. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/4211323
Younge, G. (2013) The Speech: The Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream. Haymarket Books. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/566486
MA, History (University of Edinburgh)
Hannah Hamill has a PGDE in Secondary Education (History) from the University of Glasgow and a Master’s degree in History from the University of Edinburgh. She also received a Bachelor’s degree in English from Belmont University. Her research interests include The Troubles in Northern Ireland, Medieval Britain, the American Civil War, and immigration to the southern United States. Her dissertation examined loyalist and republican women’s involvement during The Troubles.