Civil Rights & the Press

For more information, contact Charlotte Grimes:
cgrimes@syr.edu or 443-2366

In the spring of 2004, the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications commemorated two civil rights landmarks: the 50 th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling and the 40 th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The two-day symposium brought together 19 of the journalists whose coverage helped illuminate the civil rights era and stirred the nation’s conscience. The symposium also featured Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who led the 1965 “Bloody Sunday” March for voting rights in Selma, Ala., and a panel of scholars and journalists reflecting on today’s needs for civil rights coverage.

Read the transcripts and oral histories from the participants.