A compact, remarkably successful narrative history of the civil rights movement, 1954-1968, chronicling the major events, describing the key players, and showing how the revolution transformed the American South. American Ways Series.

Part 1 Preface ix Part 2 THE GATHERING STORM 3 Chapter 3 First legal challenges. The New Deal. Regional protest groups. Local organizations. The Emmett Till case. The Brown decision announced. Part 4 THE SCHOOLHOUSE DOOR 27 Chapter 5 Reaction to the Brown decision. Autherine Lucy. Crisis at Little Rock. Massive resistance. James Meredith at Ole Miss. George Wallace and the University of Alabama. Part 6 "I HAVE A DREAM" 51 Chapter 7 The Montgomery Bus Boycott. The rise of martin Luther King, Jr. King's philosophy. The formation of SCLC. Failure at Albany. The Birmingham campaign. Kennedy's involvement. The March on Washington. Part 8 "SITTING-IN FOR JUSTICE, RIDING FOR FREEDOM" 81 Chapter 9 The Greensboro movement. The movement spreads. Freedom Rides. Origins of SNCC. The Voting Rights campaign. "Freedom Summer." Malcolm X. Part 10 THE NATIONAL RESPONSE 106 Chapter 11 The Eisenhower administration. The election of 1960. Kennedy and civil rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964. White backlash. The Mississippi Freedom Democratic party. The election of 1964. Part 12 THE END OF THE MOVEMENT 127 13 The Selma campaign. The Voting Rights Act of 1965. The end of school segregation. Collapse of the movement. "Black power." King's Chicago sojourn. The "Poor People's campaign." The death of Martin Luther King. Part 14 THE NEW SOUTH 149 Chapter 15 Effect of the Voting Rights Act. Black political participation. School desegregation and its effects. Southern justice. The wealth disparity. King's legacy. Part 16 A Note on Sources 165 Part 17 Index 169