Civil Rights: President Eisenhower and the Eisenhower Administration

The 1950s were a significant time period in the history of civil rights in this country.  The Eisenhower Administration worked quietly on this front. The following documents include official government reports on civil rights, as well as President Eisenhower's personal views on this issue.

Report by the Attorney General on the Administration’s Efforts in the Field of Racial Segregation and Discrimination, January 26, 1955 [DDE’s Papers as President, Cabinet Series, Box 4, Cabinet Meeting of January 28, 1955; NAID #12191289]

Press Release, Republican National Committee, August 9, 1955 [DDE's Records as President, Official File, Box 614, OF 142-A Negro Matters - Colored Question (3); NAID #12191288]

Memorandum, E. Frederick Morrow to Sherman Adams, December 16, 1955 [E. Frederic Morrow Records, Box 10, Civil Rights Official Memoranda 1956-1955; NAID #12191320]

Statement by J. Edgar Hoover, Racial Tension and Civil Rights, March 1, 1956 [DDE’s Papers as President, Cabinet Series, Box 6, Cabinet Meeting of March 9, 1956; NAID #12191321]

Letter, President Eisenhower to Rev. Billy Graham, March 22, 1956 [DDE's Papers as President, Name Series, Box 16, Billy Graham; NAID #12175790]

Letter, Rev. Billy Graham to President Eisenhower, March 27, 1956 [DDE's Papers as President, Name Series, Box 16, Billy Graham; NAID #12175813]

Letter, President Eisenhower to Rev. Billy Graham, March 30, 1956 [DDE's Papers as President, Name Series, Box 16, Billy Graham; NAID #12175800]

Letter, Rev. Billy Graham to President Eisenhower, June 4, 1956 [DDE's Papers as President, Name Series, Box 16, Billy Graham; NAID #12175836]

Diary Entry, August 14, 1956 [DDE’s Papers as President, Ann Whitman Diary Series, Box 8, August 1956 Diary (1); NAID #12191456]

Letter, J. Edgar Hoover to William H. Jackson, October 24, 1956 (cover letter following:) The Communist Party and the Negro, October 1956 [OSANSA, FBI Series, Box 10, The Communist Party and the Negro Oct. 1956; NAID #12191457]

Letter, Adam Clayton Powell to DDE, March 28, 1957 [DDE’s Records as President, Official File, Box 614, OF-142-A Negro Matters-Colored Question (4); NAID #12175863]

Memorandum, Maxwell Rabb to Sherman Adams, April 17, 1957 [DDE’s Records as President, Official File, Box 614, OF-142-A Negro Matters-Colored Question (4); NAID #12176489]

Memorandum, E. Frederic Morrow to Sherman Adams, June 4, 1957 [DDE’s Records as President, Official File, Box 614, OF-142-A Negro Matters-Colored Question (5); NAID #12191287]

Memorandum, Maxwell Rabb to Sherman Adams, June 24, 1957 [DDE’s Records as President, Official File, Box 614, OF-142-A Negro Matters-Colored Question (5); NAID #12176961]

Memorandum, Maxwell Rabb to Sherman Adams, September 27, 1957 [DDE’s Records as President, Official File, Box 614, OF-142-A Negro Matters-Colored Question (5); NAID #12177477]

Memorandum, Maxwell Rabb to Sherman Adams, November 12, 1957 [E. Frederic Morrow Records, Box 10, Civil Rights Commission; NAID #12190135]

Memorandum for the Record, Meeting of Negro Leaders with the President on June 23, 1958, memo dated June 24, 1958 (66 pages) [DDE's Papers as President, DDE Diary Series, Box 33, June 1958 Staff Notes (2); NAID #186611]

Letter, Roy Wilkins (NAACP) to President Eisenhower, June 25, 1958 [DDE’s Records as President, Official File, Box 614, OF-142-A Negro Matters-Colored Question (6); NAID #12189441]

Memorandum, Rocco Siciliano to President Eisenhower, June 25, 1958 [DDE’s Papers as President, DDE Diary Series, Box 33, June 1958 Staff Notes (2); NAID #12188975]

Letter, President Eisenhower to Ralph McGill, February 26, 1959 [DDE’s Papers as President, DDE Diary Series, Box 39, DDE Dictation February 1959; NAID #12188395]

Additional Information:

Civil Rights Subject Guide

Photographs: