Did You Know?
Facts, Figures & Folklore
about Martin Luther King &
the Civil Rights Movement
Jan. 11 : 06 Days to MLK Day
Did you know that in 1961, President John F. Kennedy created the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity?
In that same year, the first black students were admitted to the University of Georgia.
Did you know that in 1962, civil rights organizers launched a massive voter registration campaign within the black community in Mississippi?
The effort was largely unsuccessful, due to poll taxes and reading tests that were still in place in Mississippi and other Southern states to bar blacks from voting.
Also in 1962, James Meredith, a black college student from Mississippi, won his Supreme Court case to be granted admission to the University of Mississippi. Federal troops were sent by President Kennedy to protect Meredith and ensure his full enrollment.
Each year on the third Monday of January schools, federal offices, post office and banks across America close as we celebrate the birth, the life and the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It is a time for the nation to remember the injustices that Dr. King fought. A time to remember his fight for the freedom, equality, and dignity of all races and peoples. A time to remember the message of change through nonviolence.
Join us for our look at the past 60 years of the civil rights movement and our countdown to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday January 17, 2011.