This week The University of Texas at Austin was at the center of a national conversation on civil rights, thanks to the LBJ Library’s Civil Rights Summit, held April 8-10. The summit brought four U.S. presidents and a program full of civil rights leaders, scholars and activists to campus to celebrate the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Baines Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act and discuss the future of civil rights advocacy in America.
The presidents were joined by speakers including Rep. John Lewis, Reverend Bernice King, Hall of Fame NBA center Bill Russell, journalist Maria Shriver, former secretary of education Margaret Spellings, Grammy-winner Mavis Staples, San Antonio mayor Julián Castro and Americans with Disabilities Act architect Lex Frieden.
The summit was a lead story for major media outlets, with coverage in The Washington Post, PBS Newshour, Bloomberg Businessweek and many others. All the sessions and keynotes are archived on the LBJ Library YouTube channel.
Below, browse images, quotes and observations from the summit, including student reactions to this historic gathering. And keep the conversation going by checking out this reading list of civil rights and LBJ books from UT Press.
