Before the 1950s

About the lecture

In this module, we explore how the Civil Rights Movement evolved in the years before the 1950s. In particular, we will focus on: (i) why the 1940s were such a crucial period for the Civil Rights Movement, including the effect of WWII, the ending of white primaries with Smith v. Allwright and the decline of racial terrorism; (ii) the growth and early successes of the NAACP; (iii) A. Philip Randolph's impact; (iv) the consequences of the Great Migration; (v) the development of African American education, including the work of Septima Poinsette Clark.

About the lecturer

Professor Charles M. Payne is the Henry Rutgers Distinguished Professor of African American Studies at Rutgers University Newark and the Director of the Joseph Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Research. His research and teaching interests include urban education and school reform, social inequality, social change and modern African American history, particularly the Black Freedom Struggle. He has written a number of books within these fields, including So Much Reform, So Little Change, (Harvard Education Publishing Group, 2008) and Teach Freedom: The African American Tradition of Education For Liberation (Teachers College Press, 2008).