The historic signing of the Civil Rights Act took place during a nationally televised ceremony at the White House.
In the landmark 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. The 10 years that followed saw great strides for the African American civil rights movement, as non-violent demonstrations won thousands of supporters to the cause.
Memorable landmarks in the struggle included the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955—sparked by the refusal of Alabama resident Rosa Parks to give up her seat on a city bus to a white passenger—and the “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. at a rally of hundreds of thousands in Washington, D.C., in 1963.
As the strength of the civil rights movement grew, John F. Kennedy made passage of a new civil rights bill one of the platforms of his successful 1960 presidential campaign. As Kennedy’s vice president, Johnson served as Chairman of the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunities.
After President Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, the newly sworn in President Johnson vowed to carry out his proposals for civil rights reform.
The Civil Rights Act fought tough opposition in the House and a lengthy, heated debate in the Senate before being approved in July, 1964. For the signing of the historic legislation, Johnson invited hundreds of guests to a televised ceremony in the White House’s East Room.