1960s Timeline

Sept. 27, 1962 - Vandals have defaced the white marble Lincoln Memorial, painting “n****r lover” in foot-high pink letters on the rear...

July 30, 1962 - Mrs. Arthur Walker, wife of a New York real estate broker, said today that Mrs. Floyd Patterson, wife of the heavyweight...

Jan. 23, 1962 - George Lincoln Rockwell, leader of the American Nazi party, has applied for a permit to hold a rally in New York’s Union...

Nov. 29, 1961 - A mob of cursing whites, shouting “Kill ‘em! Kill ‘em!” set upon five Negro Freedom Riders today and drove them from the...

Nov. 29, 1961 - A Mississippi Citizens Council leader said today that several Southern communities were forming “minutemen” organizations...

Oct. 30, 1961 - Hecklers shouted “Keep Britain white!” today when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, American anti-segregation leader,...

Sept. 25, 1961 - The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said today that a campaign to double the number of Negro voters in the South this fall...

Sept. 23, 1961 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy said today the Justice Department "will cooperate fully" in enforcing the new...

Sept. 23, 1961 - More than 200 representatives of organizations affiliated with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference will gather...

Sept. 20, 1961 - A storm of protest arose in Shreveport, Louisiana, today over "Walk in My Shoes," a documentary on the plight of the...

Sept. 20, 1961 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy has resigned from the Metropolitan Club because of its segregation policy. Assistant...

Sept. 13, 1961 - Thurgood Marshall (pictured right with Roy Wilkins), chief counsel to the NAACP, is slated for appointment to one of...

Sept. 9, 1961 - The Houston Oilers set a scoring record today while opening the defense of their American Football League championship by...

Sept. 8, 1961 - An official of the NAACP said today that Negroes playing with the Oakland Raiders would be asked not to cross picket...

Sept. 6, 1961 - President Kennedy today called the peaceful integration of many schools in the South a "dramatic demonstration of...

Sept. 1, 1961 - Nine men accused of bombing the first "freedom rider" bus to enter Alabama have been indicted by a Federal grand jury....

Aug. 30, 1961 - Public school desegregation came peacefully today to Atlanta despite efforts by a handful of racists to disrupt the...

Aug. 25, 1961 - A County Court jury in Jackson, Miss., convicted a second Freedom Rider today on appeal from a City Court conviction. The...

Aug. 22, 1961 - The annual convention of the National Student Association in Madison, Wis., was stirred today by controversy over the...

Aug. 21, 1961 - Louisiana District Judge John A. Dixon Jr. found six Negro Freedom Riders guilty today of having an intent to provoke a...