From the period of the 1950s through the 1970s, struggles for civil and social rights, equality, and justice swept the United States. At universities and colleges, students championed the Free Speech Movement, demanding their right to free speech, political protest, and academic freedom. African Americans struggled for civil rights, and many groups fought for social justice — demanding equal rights, better working conditions, and an end to the Vietnam War. In 1965, feelings about racial inequality and economic and social injustice boiled over into widespread violence for the first time in Los Angeles's African American community of Watts. The community's transformation from angry frustration to hopeful growth is just one example of what was taking place in similar neighborhoods across the country during this tumultuous time.
The Civil Rights Movement
The Free Speech Movement
Watts
Struggles for Social Justice
Everyday Life
The LGBT Pride ParadeNew!
Explore primary source sets about the 1950s-1970s:
Abernathy, Ralph
Black Panthers
Chavez, Cesar
Chicano Moratorium Committee
Civil rights
Communism
Congress of Racial Equality
Ford, Gerald
Free Speech Movement
Huerta, Dolores
Johnson, Lyndon
Kennedy, John F.
King, Jr., Martin Luther
Ku Klux Klan
Malcolm X
Marshall, Thurgood
NAACP
Nixon, Richard
Parks, Rosa
Vietnam War
Wilkins, Roy
Learn more about California's diversity in the 20th century.