60th Anniversary of the March on Washington

Participants of the March on Washington, D.C. Local ID: 306-SSM-4C-35-4 August 28, 2023, is the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as the March on Washington. More than 200,000 people took part in the demonstration held on the National Mall to advocate for Black Americans' civil and economic … Continue reading 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington

April 1968 Washington, D.C. Riots

In April 1968, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to support sanitation workers that were on strike. It was in Memphis on April 3rd that King would give his final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop." The next day, on the evening of April 4th while at the Lorraine Motel, King was … Continue reading April 1968 Washington, D.C. Riots

60 Years On: The Little Rock Nine

September 2017 marks 60 years since the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, a key event of the American Civil Rights Movement. NARA Holdings Relating to the Desegregation of Central High School The Motion Picture, Sound and Video Branch at the National Archives has in its holdings several reels of unedited footage … Continue reading 60 Years On: The Little Rock Nine

Spotlight: Celebrating Black History Month

Photos for this blog post were selected and scanned with the assistance of Kaitlyn Crain Enriquez. The United States celebrates Black History Month in February. First established as Negro History Week by African-American historian Carter G. Woodson in 1926, Black History Month was formally designated by president Gerald Ford in 1976: "Freedom and the recognition of individual rights are … Continue reading Spotlight: Celebrating Black History Month

Photograph of Alabama State Capitol Grounds

From Selma to Montgomery: The Selma Voting Rights Movement

This year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day falls on January 18, the anniversary of a march that Dr. King helped lead from Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church to the Selma Courthouse for the purpose of voter registration. The marchers were not allowed to register, but this was just one skirmish in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s … Continue reading From Selma to Montgomery: The Selma Voting Rights Movement

This Week in Universal News: President Truman Addresses the NAACP, 1947

This week, we're featuring a speech President Harry S. Truman made June 28, 1947, at the closing of the annual conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Truman called for the government to protect not just civil liberties, but civil rights. The "recent events" … Continue reading This Week in Universal News: President Truman Addresses the NAACP, 1947

This Week in Universal News: The University of Alabama is Desegregated, 1963

On June 11, 1963, Vivian Malone and James Hood arrived at the University of Alabama to register for summer classes. Instead of a helpful low-level administrator guiding them through the process, it took the National Guard to ensure their enrollment-- George Wallace, the governor of their state, was blocking the door. Wallace's "Stand in the Schoolhouse … Continue reading This Week in Universal News: The University of Alabama is Desegregated, 1963

Images of the Week: The March on Washington

With the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom occurring this past Wednesday, it was easy to come up with this week's subject matter. Here are a few of the images found in the series "Miscellaneous Subjects, Staff and Stringer Photographs, 1961 - 1974" (306-SSM). Local Identifier: 306-SSM-4-D-102-15. "Civil Rights March … Continue reading Images of the Week: The March on Washington

Protecting Your Past–It’s What We Do Here: The Preservation and Restoration of The March

Today’s post is from Criss Kovac. Criss is the supervisor of the Motion Picture Preservation Lab, which is responsible for performing conservation and preservation work on motion picture records held across the National Archives. Recently, she completed a digital restoration of The March. The March, the James Blue film documenting the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs … Continue reading Protecting Your Past–It’s What We Do Here: The Preservation and Restoration of The March

Making The March

Today's post is from Criss Kovac. Criss is the supervisor of the Motion Picture Preservation Lab, which is responsible for performing conservation and preservation work on motion picture records held across the National Archives. Recently, she completed a digital restoration of The March (306.765). On August 10th, 1963 The U.S. Government, under the auspices of … Continue reading Making The March