President Lyndon B. Johnson reaches to shake hands with Martin Luther King Jr. after presenting the civil rights leader with one of the 72 pens used to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964. AP hide caption
The Anniversary Of 'Freedom Summer' 50 years ago, activists took to the streets of Mississippi to open the polls to African-Americans and end white supremacy in the state. All summer, we'll be telling stories about the reverberations from that time.
Special Series
The Anniversary Of 'Freedom Summer'
Remembering the historic summer of 1964.
David Goodman and Stosh Cotler of Bend the Arc at the U.S. Capitol. Carrie Johnson/NPR hide caption
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party delegates and supporters stage a demonstration on the boardwalk in front of the Atlantic City Convention Center in 1964. Courtesy of George Ballis/Take Stock hide caption
'Freedom Summer' And 'The Watsons': Powerful TV About A Civil Rights Journey
Freedom Summer activists sing before leaving training sessions at Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio, for Mississippi in June 1964. Ted Polumbaum Collection/Newseum hide caption
A new exhibit at the Mississippi state archives includes photographs, excerpts from journals and film clips documenting 1964's Freedom Summer. Debbie Elliott/NPR hide caption