The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964. It is known as landmark legislation which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in schools, workplaces, and businesses serving the public. It also required literacy tests for voter registration in federal elections be equally administered to everyone. 

This federal law’s regulation of private business owners was upheld by the Supreme Court, perhaps most notably in Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States. Here, the Supreme Court established that Congress has the power to regulate commerce between the States, which includes motels and hotels, by utilizing the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 didn’t appear out of thin air, however, and the lead up in the U.S. to this bill was fraught with anger, violence, and political maneuvering. Last year UA Special Collections held a Lecture Series on Civil Rights, with an accompanying exhibition on 50 Years of Civil Rights in Arizona, to commemorate the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This summer marks the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 Freedom Summer in Mississippi.

Just as people marched in the streets, other bills prepared Congress for the 1964 legislation. Two such bills include the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Lyndon Johnson was vital in moving the 1957 bill through Congress, but watered it down in the process so as not to lose support from southern Democrats. He continually looked for ways to pass greater civil rights legislation, and saw an opportunity in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

We find evidence of this long road for civil rights throughout the manuscript collections here at UA Special Collections. The Stewart L. Udall Papers (AZ 372) contain records of the Congressman (1954-1960) and Secretary of Interior’s (1960-1969) time in Washington. The photograph above shows President Johnson handing Secretary Udall an historic pen after signing a bill with it. Also found in the collection is a 1963 letter from U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. This letter prefaces the 1964 Act’s use of the Commerce Clause, as Kennedy thanks Udall for making calls to “business leaders having interests in Alabama” and that “their contacting [Alabama’s] Governor Wallace has unquestionably caused him to reevaluate his position.” Governor Wallace didn’t denounce segregation until 1979. The road to freedom is a long, unfinished one.