The LBJ Presidential Library, located on The University of Texas at Austin campus, will host a Civil Rights Summit on April 8-10 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. President Lyndon Baines Johnson drove passage of the legislation and signed it into law.
The summit will feature keynote addresses from former President Jimmy Carter on April 8 and former President Bill Clinton on April 9. An invitation has been extended to former President George W. Bush to deliver a keynote address on April 10, and the library is working with his office to finalize details.
The Civil Rights Summit is this year’s cornerstone event of a multiyear anniversary celebration of Johnson’s prodigious legislative legacy by the LBJ Presidential Library, the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, and the LBJ Foundation.
“President Johnson’s legislative achievements underscore for our students how society can be transformed by the efforts of those committed to a life of leadership in public service,” said Robert Hutchings, dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs. “Now, with the Civil Rights Summit, we will have an opportunity to hear from some of today’s most prominent and distinguished leaders as our students prepare themselves to be the next ‘get it done’ generation.”
“Fifty years ago, President Johnson’s vision for a more just and honorable America contributed to the passing of the Civil Rights Act, the most transformational civil rights legislation since Reconstruction and a crucial step in the realization of America’s promise,” said Mark K. Updegrove, director of the LBJ Presidential Library. “But his vision went far beyond ending racial discrimination. He believed that education, economic opportunity, health care, clean air and water, and access to the arts and humanities, among other things, were inherent civil rights for all Americans and it’s reflected in his legislative legacy.”
Participants in the summit will include current and former UT Austin presidents Bill Powers and Larry Faulkner and faculty members Michael J. Cramer and Shirley Franklin.
They will also include prominent representatives of the Johnson administration and family, the American media, current and former elected officials, and members of academia:
Julian Bond
Former Chairman, NAACP
Taylor Branch
Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Jim Brown
Former NFL running back
Tina Brown
Journalist, Tina Brown Live Media
Joseph A. Califano Jr.
Chair, National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse; Head of Domestic Policy for President Johnson
The Honorable Julián Castro
Mayor of San Antonio, Texas
Michael J. Cramer
Director, UT Program in Sports and Media
Dr. Harry Edwards
Sociologist, focusing on African American athletes
Dr. Larry Faulkner
Former President, The University of Texas at Austin
David Ferriero
Archivist of the United States
The Honorable Shirley Franklin
Former Mayor of Atlanta; Barbara Jordan Visiting Professor of Ethics and Political Values, LBJ School
Luci Baines Johnson
Daughter of Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson
Tom Johnson
Former President, CNN; former Deputy Press Secretary to President Johnson
Congressman John Lewis
U.S. Representative, Georgia
Joe Morgan
Former Major League Baseball second baseman
Diane Nash
Helped found Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Bill Powers
President, The University of Texas at Austin
Todd Purdum
Author, “An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Two Presidents, Two Parties, and the Battle for the Civil Rights Act of 1964”; national editor of Vanity Fair
Lynda Johnson Robb
Daughter of Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson
Bill Russell
Former NBA center
Bob Santelli
Director, The GRAMMY Museum
The Honorable Margaret Spellings
Former U.S. Secretary of Education; President, George W. Bush Presidential Center
Mavis Staples
Singer, civil rights activist
The Honorable Antonio Villaraigosa
Former Mayor of Los Angeles
The Honorable Andrew Young
Former U.N. Ambassador and former Mayor of Atlanta
Information on the summit may be found at www.civilrightssummit.org.
AV Media Kit may be found at www.civilrightssummit.org/media.
“Cornerstones of Civil Rights” Exhibit:
During the summit and throughout the month of April, the “Cornerstones of Civil Rights” exhibit will be on display at the LBJ Presidential Library, linking the civil rights legacies of Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson. It features a lithograph copy of Abraham Lincoln’s final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation; the 13th Amendment, which ended slavery, signed by President Lincoln; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Johnson; and an annotated copy of Johnson’s “We Shall Overcome” speech to Congress asking for passage of the Voting Rights Act. It also includes a signature “stovepipe” hat worn by Lincoln and a Resistol beaver cowboy hat worn by Johnson.
Civil Rights Film Series:
Hosted by Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker, UT Radio-Television-Film department head and LBJ School professor Paul Stekler, the LBJ School of Public Affairs will present a series of documentaries and speeches that chronicle the civil rights era and the pivotal role played by Johnson in the passing of the Civil Rights Act, on April 2, 3, and 7.
LBJ School 50th Commemoration Activities:
Throughout the next 18 months, the LBJ School will examine how far America has come in meeting the challenges of achieving equality and equity for all Americans. The school will sponsor 50 events for the 50th anniversary, all culminating in a call for a renewed effort to “get things done” in order to improve the lives of all citizens. The “50 for 50” spotlight event for February will feature leading civil rights attorney, activist, scholar and the first African American female tenured professor at Harvard Law School, Lani Guinier, on Feb. 19.
