1960s Timeline

July 21, 1962 - New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller last night lauded Jackie Robinson as “a hero of the struggle to make American...

July 19, 1962 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today became the first American Negro to address the National Press Club in Washington, D.C....

July 15, 1962 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. asserted today that officials of Albany, Ga., must grant the minimum demands of Negroes or...

July 12, 1962 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was released against his will from jail today after serving 2 days of a 45-day sentence. An...

July 10, 1962 - New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller sent a telegram today to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy asking Federal...

July 10, 1962 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a fellow minister went to jail today in Albany, Ga., to emphasize their nonviolent...

July 5, 1962 - The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said today that civil rights leaders had been “enticed into self-serving statements and...

June 25, 1962 - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordered today issuance of an injunction to force the University of...

June 22, 1962 - President Kennedy urged industry today to speed up equality of job opportunities for Negroes. The best way, he said, is...

June 18, 1962 - The House of Representatives passed today and sent to the Senate a bill to designate next Jan. 1 as “Emancipation...

June 17, 1962 - June 17, 1962 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke today at Zion Hill Baptist Church in L.A. Here, he talks about a...

June 17, 1962 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke today at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Here is a clip from his address, which...

June 15, 1962 - In San Diego today, Dr. Martin Luther King spoke of the latest developments in the civil rights struggle. #mlk...

June 8, 1962 - Lionel Hampton (pictured left with Cassius Clay), the jazz musician, today signed a contract to become musical director of...

June 7, 1962 - At his press conference today, President Kennedy was asked if he considered “justified” a speech made by Democratic...

June 6, 1962 - Harry Belafonte (right), the Negro singer, and a racially mixed group were accepted for registration at an Atlanta motel...

June 4, 1962 - Governor Nelson Rockefeller replied today to a Democratic challenge on civil rights and issued one to President Kennedy in...

June 3, 1962 - NBC and ABC reaffirmed today what they called their longstanding policy of nondiscrimination in the use of Negro actors on...

June 2, 1962 - A 17-year-old Negro girl who spent more than a month in a Mississippi jail and nearly seven months in a reform school for...

May 26, 1962 - Leonard Bernstein (pictured), the conductor, walked out of a Baltimore restaurant yesterday when he was told that a Negro...