A Concerned Citizen’s Change of Heart

A letter written by a concerned citizen offers an insight into the public reaction to school desegregation as it was carried out under the Nixon Administration. The author had previously submitted a letter consisting of 204 signatures protesting the school’s...

The Push for Anti-Busing Legislation

During a press conference on April 29, 1971, a reporter asked President Nixon if he approved of “the mandatory use of busing to overcome racial segregation” ruled by the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg. An unmarked provisional Q &...

The Challenge of Peaceful Desegregation

  An excerpt from a 1969 statement by both Robert H. Finch, Secretary of the Department of Health Education and Welfare, and John N. Mitchell, Attorney General, gives us a perspective on the challenges still facing the nationwide integration of schools since the...