The Special Collections Research Center at Swem Library holds a number of important collections related to the Civil Rights movement. From historical documents to political papers, from songbooks to photos of Civil Rights demonstrators, there is documentation of this vital history waiting to be explored in the SCRC.
Few might expect Batman to show up in Special Collections, but the popular superhero advocates for inclusion and tolerance in these comic strips from the 1950s. These and other printed materials are part of the Racial and Ethnic Ephemera Collection (Mss 1.05).
with Martin Luther King in
1965.
Did you know that the Special Collections Research Center holds the Curtis West Harris and Ruth Jones Harris Papers? The collection includes documents, photographs, and ephemera related to Curtis Harris, the Civil Rights icon, who marched with Martin Luther King in 1965 and tirelessly advocated for the cause.
W&M Libraries has completed a number of exhibits related to the theme of “From Fights to Rights,” including the following exhibitions on integration and public education: “‘The Inevitable Present’: Integration at William & Mary”; “The Virginia Way of Life Must Be Preserved”; and “The Road from ‘Separate but Equal’ to ‘With All Deliberate Speed’: Civil Rights in Public Education.” There is a link to photos of the exhibitions at the bottom of each webpage. Be sure to take a look!
The 2014 exhibition, “Job Half Done: William & Mary (In)Action During the Civil Rights Movement,” examined the involvement of various William & Mary community members in the fight for civil rights. The exhibition documented the individuals and events that became part of this important chapter in our nation’s history. See photos from the exhibition on the Flickr webpage.
