ugabma_wsbn_36553 36553 wsbn ugabma yes WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Senators Thomas J. Dodd and John Sherman Cooper supporting federal legislation guaranteeing rights for African Americans in Washington, D.C., 1963 May 22 WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.) Legislators--United States African Americans--Civil rights Bills, Legislative--United States Civil rights--United States Race relations Segregation--United States Nonviolence--United States Race riots--United States Federal-city relations--United States United States--Race relations--History--20th century United States. Congress. Senate United States. Constitution. 14th Amendment United States. Constitution. 15th Amendment Dodd, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph), 1907-1971 Cooper, John Sherman, 1901- In this WSB newsfilm clip from May 22, 1963, Senators Thomas J. Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, and John Sherman Cooper, a Republican from Kentucky, support federal legislation guaranteeing the rights of African American citizens. The clip begins with what looks like an impromptu press conference, with reporters sitting at a table with Senators Dodd and Cooper. Senator Dodd addresses the reporters, explaining that the current civil rights situation is a "no-man's land." He recognizes that the federal government will "prevent rioting and disorder" in Birmingham, but believes the government's responsibility is greater than that. He explains that he and Senator Cooper are proposing legislation to "see that the rights guaranteed to our citizens under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment are provided and that those who interfere with them are brought to book." On May 23, the day after the press conference, Senator Dodd and Senator Cooper introduced two bills to Congress: one proposing to grant the government more authority to protect citizens, and the other to increase the pace of school desegregation and to enforce the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education ruling. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed The Civil Rights Act, legislation that abolished Southern "Jim Crow" laws, and outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Title supplied by cataloger. The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection. Athens, Ga. : Digital Library of Georgia and Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries Dodd, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph), 1907-1971 Cooper, John Sherman, 1901- Digital Library of Georgia Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection Civil Rights Digital Library Collection (Digital Library of Georgia) 2007 Moving images News Unedited footage http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/crdl/id:ugabma_wsbn_36553 1 clip (about 1 min.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm. Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection. Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library. 1963-05-22 Birmingham (Ala.) Jefferson County (Ala.) Washington (D.C.) WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Senators Thomas J. Dodd and John Sherman Cooper supporting federal legislation guaranteeing rights for African Americans in Washington, D.C., 1963 May 22, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 0807, 28:43/29:47, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia. wsbn36553 1 20111116 123845