August 26, 2004 — For Immediate Release

Contact: Robert Lampkin at (832) 325-2228

Houston, TX — The Voices of Civil Rights Bus Tour will arrive in Houston on Thursday, August 26th at Sharpstown Mall, 7500 Bellaire Blvd. from 9 a.m. -1 p.m. AARP, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), and the Library of Congress are hosting the nationwide bus tour to collect firsthand accounts of the Civil Rights Movement. The tour is part of the Voices of Civil Rights project, a multifaceted effort to build the world’s largest archive of civil rights stories for placement in the Library of Congress. The first leg of the tour stops in many of the cities that were part of the 1961 Freedom Riders route. Passing through more than 35 cities over 70 days, the tour will stop at local commemorative events before rolling into the annual AARP National Event in Las Vegas on October 14.

“We will be reaching out to those fighting for civil and human rights today as we honor Americans who confronted discrimination, intolerance, and resistance in the 1950s and 1960s,” said Gus Cardenas, AARP Texas State President.

The tour includes an interactive “Digital Front Porch” reminiscent of the community gathering place of days gone by. Award-winning journalists, photographers, and AARP volunteers will be on board to help collect visitor stories on audio, video, or online. The History Channel will also be on the tour to record the events for a one-hour documentary, scheduled to air in February 2005.

“The tour honors the Freedom Riders of the 1960s and saves the local accounts to educate and inspire Americans of tomorrow. This is so relevant for our members, who are of the generation that participated in and witnessed the Civil Rights Movement,” said AARP President Marie Smith.

LCCR Executive Director Wade Henderson noted, “The route includes stops that serve to remind us of our history and struggle for equality. Our goal is to collect stories from African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, women, and others.”

For more information, visit the Voices of Civil Rights website (www.voicesofcivilrights.org), which includes a searchable archive of personal stories, articles on contemporary civil rights issues, and project updates. Links to a bus tour blog will allow visitors to track the tour day to day through photos, videos, and journal entries. The letters will be donated as a permanent collection to the Library of Congress. Those with a story to tell can mail it to: Voices of Civil Rights, AARP, 601 E St. NW, Washington, DC 20049; submit it via the Internet at www.voicesofcivilrights.org; or visit the bus tour and Digital Front Porch at stops around the country.

About AARP
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to making life better for people 50 and over. We provide information and resources; engage in legislative, regulatory and legal advocacy; assist members in serving their communities; and offer a wide range of unique benefits, special products, and services for our members. These include AARP The Magazine, published bimonthly; AARP Bulletin, our monthly newspaper; AARP Segunda Juventud, our quarterly newspaper in Spanish; NRTA Live & Learn, our quarterly newsletter for 50+ educators; and our Web site, www.aarp.org We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

About LCCR
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 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.

About the Library of Congress
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. The library was founded in 1800, making it the oldest federal cultural institution in the nation. The mission of the Library of Congress 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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