Civil Rights

How do you curate a museum exhibit about the protests in Ferguson, Mo.? NPR's Scott Simon speaks with the director National Museum of African American History and Culture, which will open next fall.

Beyond preserving his legacy, city leaders are calling to investigate the 1940 death of Elbert Williams, who is believed to be the first NAACP official killed for seeking voting rights for blacks.

Sixty years ago, Helena Hicks helped desegregate the city's lunch counters. In the wake of Freddie Gray's death, the 80-year-old has continued to advocate for Baltimore's poor, black residents.

Leaders of what some call a new civil rights struggle say the protests must lead to long-term strategies. The goal is to sustain a national movement and to get past challenging obstacles.

Tens of thousands marched across the Edmund Pettus bridge in the Alabama town, where 50 years ago state troopers attacked peaceful demonstrators calling for voting equality.

Some of the most iconic images of marchers being attacked by Alabama state troopers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, were captured by a white photojournalist who stumbled onto the historic events.

The African-American plaintiffs say they were threatened with violence and harassed by white co-workers at a Daimler Trucks plant in Portland.

Meg McAleer, one of the archivists working on the Rosa Parks collection, says the documents provide a new window on the courage and skill of Parks, and the consequences she and her husband suffered.

When police pulled a gun on Bryan Stevenson as he was sitting quietly in his car in Atlanta, he knew he had to effect change. His memoir describes his attempts, including freeing men on death row.

In February 1960, four young black men sat down at a whites-only lunch counter in North Carolina. Their protest would be followed by others across the nation and become a key moment in the civil rights movement. McCain once said that he wasn't scared. He was angry.