About the Voices of Civil Rights Project
- A joint initiative of AARP, the Leadership Conference
on Civil Rights (LCCR), and the Library of Congress,
Voices of Civil Rights is the world’s largest archive
of personal memories and firsthand accounts of the Civil
Rights Movement.
- The civil rights era of the ’50s and ’60s
was a pivotal period in history. The project includes
stories from that time as well as from those who strived
to guarantee civil rights in the decades before and since,
and from those involved in the struggles that continue
today.
- The permanent location of the collection is the Library
of Congress in Washington, D.C.
- In the first year of the project, more than 4,000 stories
were collected.
- Voices of Civil Rights is the inspiration for My
Soul Looks Back in Wonder: Voices of the Civil Rights Experience (Sterling,
2004), a volume of personal narratives compiled by Juan Williams
with commentary by David Halberstam and Marian Wright Edelman.
About
the Voices of Civil Rights Bus Tour
- On August 3, 2004, Voices of Civil Rights launched
a nationwide, coast-to-coast bus tour to collect
the personal stories of ordinary citizens, typically
during commemorative events open to the public.
The tour stopped at many of the cities and towns
along the route of the 1961 Freedom Rides, and
at other sites of historical significance.
- A team of award-winning journalists traveled
on the tour, interviewing local residents and capturing
their civil rights stories.
- An interactive “Digital Front Porch” accompanied
the bus tour. The exhibit replicated an old front
porch and provided a place for visitors to record
their stories on audio or video. On the opposite
side of the exhibit, visitors logged on to the
Internet and submitted their stories electronically
at a “lunch counter” inspired by the
historic sit-ins of the 1960s.
- The tour stopped in the District of Columbia, Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California,
Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana,
Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas before traveling
to Las Vegas, Nevada, to collect stories at AARP’s
annual Member Event.
Visit www.voicesofcivilrights.org to
learn more about the Voices of Civil Rights project,
read personal stories in the searchable archive, plus
view essays, interviews, and interactive features.
Voices of Civil Rights Partners
AARP is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization dedicated
to making life better for people 50 and over. AARP provides
information and resources; engages in legislative, regulatory,
and legal advocacy; assists its members in serving their
communities; and offers a wide range of unique benefits,
special products, and services for its members. AARP has
staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More information
is available at www.aarp.org.
The
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) is a
coalition of more than 180 organizations committed to
social justice and equality. Founded in 1950, it is the
nation’s oldest, largest, and most diverse civil
and human rights coalition. LCCR member organizations
represent persons of color, women, children, labor unions,
individuals with disabilities, older Americans, major
religious groups, gays and lesbians, and civil liberties
and human rights groups. Its mission: to promote the enactment
and enforcement of effective civil rights legislation
and policy.
The Library
of Congress is the world’s largest library and
the national library of the United States. Its 530 miles
of shelves house 128 million items in nearly every language.
Founded in 1800, the library is the oldest federal cultural
institution in the nation. Its mission is to make its
vast holdings available and useful to Congress and the
American people, and to sustain and preserve a universal
collection of knowledge and human creativity for future
generations.
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