Uses speeches, articles, and other writings of those involved to trace the history of the civil rights movement in the United States, primarily from 1954 to 1965.

Origins of the civil rights movement : 1865-1948 -- School desegregation and the Brown v. Board of Education decision : 1949-1954 -- Emmett Till case : 1955 -- Montgomery bus boycott : 1955-1957 -- Crisis at Central High : 1957-1959 -- Sit-ins and freedom rides : 1960-1961 -- Albany movement and James Meredith at Ole Miss : 1961-1962 -- Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Alabama : Spring 1963 -- March on Washington : 1964 -- Freedom summer : 1964 -- Selma and the Votings Rights Act : 1965 -- Legacy of the civil rights movement.