Black Americans in Congress
Historical Essays
Black Americans in Congress: Introduction
Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood
The Negroes' Temporary Farewell
Keeping the Faith
Precongressional Experience
Legislative Electoral Characteristics
Party Realignment and the New Deal
The Second World War
Postwar Foreign Policy and African-American Civil Rights
The Civil Rights Movement And The Second Reconstruction, 1945–1968
Crafting an Institutional Identity
Conclusion
Permanent Interests
Member Profiles
Historical Data
Artifacts
The Civil Rights Movement And The Second Reconstruction, 1945—1968
Related Links
Meet the African-American Members of the 72nd–91st Congresses (1929–1970)
Educational Resources on Black Americans in Congress
Fast Facts
Learn more about the House and Civil Rights, specifically the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.
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During the period from the end of World War II until the late 1960s, often referred to as America’s “Second Reconstruction,” the nation began to correct civil and human rights abuses that had lingered in American society for a century. A grassroots civil rights movement coupled with gradual but progressive actions by Presidents, the federal courts, and Congress eventually provided more complete political rights for African Americans and began to redress longstanding economic and social inequities. While African-American Members of Congress from this era played prominent roles in advocating for reform, it was largely the efforts of everyday Americans who protested segregation that prodded a reluctant Congress to pass landmark civil rights legislation in the 1960s.76
