Civil rights Act of 1957 - wikipedia Civil rights Act of 1957 The Civil Rights Act of 1957, Pub. L. 85 -- 315, 71 Stat. 634, enacted September 9, 1957, a federal voting rights bill, was the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. Its purpose was to show the federal government 's support for racial equality after the US Supreme Court 's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Opposition to the Act, including the longest one - person filibuster in US history, limited its immediate impact. The Act, however, paved the way for a series of more effective civil rights bills in the 1960s. Contents 1 Background 2 Passage 2.1 Filibuster 3 Content 4 Aftermath 5 Subsequent legislation 6 References 7 Sources 8 External links Background Following the Supreme Court ruling in Brown, which eventually led to the integration, also called desegregation, of public schools, Southern whites began a campaign of `` Massive Resistance. '' Violence against blacks rose ; in Little Rock, Arkansas where US President Dwight D. Eisenhower had to order in federal troops to protect nine children integrating into a public school, the first time the US federal government ordered troops in the South since the Reconstruction era. There had been continued physical assaults against suspected activists and bombings of schools and churches in the South. The Eisenhower administration proposed legislation to protect blacks ' right to vote. The goal of the 1957 Civil Rights Act was to ensure that all Americans could exercise their right to vote. By 1957, only about 20 % of blacks were registered to vote. Despite being the majority in numerous counties and congressional districts in the South, most blacks had been effectively disfranchised by discriminatory voter registration rules and laws in those states since the late 19th and early 20th centuries that were heavily instituted and propagated by Southern Democrats. Civil rights organizations had collected evidence of discriminatory practices, such as the administration of literacy and comprehension tests and poll taxes. While the states had the right to establish rules for voter registration and elections, the federal government found an oversight role in ensuring that citizens could exercise the constitutional right to vote for federal officers : electors for president and vice president and members of the US Congress. Passage The Democratic Senate Majority Leader, Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, realized that the bill and its journey through Congress could tear apart his party, as its southern members opposed civil rights, and its northern members were more favorable. Southern senators occupied chairs of numerous important committees because of their long seniority. Johnson sent the bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Senator James Eastland of Mississippi, who drastically altered the bill. Senator Richard Russell, Jr., of Georgia had denounced the bill as an example of the federal government seeking to impose its laws on states. Johnson sought recognition from civil rights advocates for passing the bill as well as recognition from the mostly - Southern Democrats against civil rights for weakening the bill so much as to make it toothless. The bill passed 285 - 126 in the House of Representatives with a majority of both parties ' support ( Republicans 167 -- 19, Democrats 118 -- 107 ) It then passed 72 - 18 in the Senate, again with a majority of both parties ( Republicans 43 -- 0, Democrats 29 -- 18 ). Eisenhower signed the bill on September 9, 1957. Filibuster Democratic Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, an ardent segregationist, sustained the longest one - person filibuster in history in an attempt to keep the bill from becoming law. His one - man filibuster lasted 24 hours and 18 minutes ; he began with readings of every US state 's election laws in alphabetical order. He later read from the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and George Washington 's Farewell Address. To prevent a quorum call that could have relieved the filibuster by allowing the Senate to adjourn, cots were brought in from a nearby hotel for the legislators to sleep on while Thurmond discussed increasingly - irrelevant and obscure topics, including his grandmother 's biscuit recipe. Other Southern senators, who had agreed as part of a compromise not to filibuster this bill, were upset with Thurmond. They believed his defiance made them look incompetent to their constituents. Other constituents were upset with their senators because they were seen as not helping Thurmond. Thurmond pointed out that there was already a federal statute that prosecuted citizens who denied or intimidated voters at voting booths under a fine and / or imprisonment but that the bill then under consideration could legally deny trial by jury to those that continued to do so. Democratic Representative Charles A. Boyle of Illinois, a member of the powerful Appropriations Subcommittee of Defense, pushed the bill through the House of Representatives. Content Section 101 set up a six - member Civil Rights Commission in the executive branch to gather information on citizens ' deprivation of voting rights based on color, race, religion, or national origin as well as the legal background, the laws, and the policies of the federal government. The commission was to take testimony or written complaints from individuals on the difficulties in registering and voting. It would submit a final report to the President and the Congress within two years and then cease to exist. Part IV, Section 131, banned intimidating, coercing or otherwise interfering with the rights of persons to vote for electors for President and members of Congress. The United States Attorney General was allowed to institute actions, including injunctions and charges of contempt of court, with fines not to exceed $1000 and six months imprisonment. Extensive safeguards for the rights of accused were provided by the statute. US federal judges were allowed to hear cases related to the Act with or without juries. Not being able to vote in most of the South, blacks were then excluded from state juries there. Federal jury selection had been tied to state jury selection rules, thus in some instances excluding both blacks and women as federal jurors. Section 161 freed federal courts from state jury rules and specified qualifications for jurors in federal courts. `` Any citizen '' 21 years or older, literate in English, who had resided in the judicial district for a year, excluding convicts and persons with mental or physical infirmities severe enough to make them unable to serve, was eligible. Since neither race nor sex was listed among the qualifications, the provision allowed both blacks and women to serve on juries in trials in federal courts. The final version of the act established both the Commission on Civil Rights and the office of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Subsequently, on December 9, 1957, the Civil Rights Division was established within the Justice Department by order of US Attorney General William P. Rogers, giving the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights a distinct division to command. Previously, civil rights lawyers had enforced Reconstruction - era civil rights laws from within the Department 's Criminal Division. Aftermath Although the Act 's passage through seemed to indicate a growing federal commitment to the cause of civil rights, the legislation was limited. Alterations to the bill made the Act difficult to enforce ; by 1960, black voting had increased by only 3 %. Its passage showed varying degrees of willingness to support civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr., then 28, was a developing leader in the Civil Rights Movement and spoke out against white supremacists. Segregationists had burned black churches, which were centers of education and organizing for voter registration, and physically attacked black activists, including women. King sent a telegram to Eisenhower to make a speech to the South and asked him to use `` the weight of your great office to point out to the people of the South the moral nature of the problem. '' Eisenhower responded, `` I do n't know what another speech would do about the thing right now. '' Disappointed, King sent another telegram to Eisenhower stating that the latter 's comments were `` a profound disappointment to the millions of Americans of goodwill, north and south, who earnestly are looking to you for leadership and guidance in this period of inevitable social change. '' He tried to set up a meeting with the President but was given a two - hour meeting with Vice President Richard Nixon. It is reported that Nixon was impressed with King and told Eisenhower that he might enjoy meeting King later. Subsequent legislation The Civil Rights Act of 1960 addressed some of the shortcomings of the 1957 Act by expanding the authority of federal judges to protect voting rights and by requiring local authorities to maintain comprehensive voting records for review so that the government could determine if there were patterns of discrimination against certain populations. The Civil Rights Movement continued to expand, with protesters leading nonviolent demonstrations to mark their cause. Now president, John F. Kennedy, called for a new bill in his televised Civil Rights Address of June 11, 1963, in which he asked for legislation `` giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public -- hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments '' as well as `` greater protection for the right to vote. '' Kennedy delivered the speech after a series of civil rights protests, most notably the Birmingham campaign, which concluded in May 1963. In the summer of 1963, various parts of the civil rights movement collaborated to run voter education and voter registration drives in Mississippi. During the 1964 Freedom Summer, hundreds of students from the North came to participate in voter drives and community organizing. Media coverage, especially of the violent backlash exemplified by the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner near Philadelphia, Mississippi, contributed to national support for civil rights legislation. After the Kennedy assassination, now - President Lyndon Johnson helped secure passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made racial discrimination and segregation illegal, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which abolished the poll tax and other means of keeping blacks and the poor from registering to vote and from voting, established record - keeping and oversight, and provided for federal enforcement in areas with documented patterns of discrimination or low voter turnout. References Jump up ^ McNeese, Tim ( 2008 ). The Civil Rights Movement : Striving for Justice. New York : Infobase Publishing. ^ Jump up to : James A. Miller, `` An inside look at Eisenhower 's civil rights record '' Archived 2012 - 01 - 07 at the Wayback Machine. The Boston Globe at boston.com, 21 November 2007, accessed 28 October 2011 Jump up ^ Caro, Robert, Master of the Senate : The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Chapter 39 Jump up ^ HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957. PASSED. YEA SUPPORTS PRESIDENT 'S POSITION. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42 Jump up ^ HR. 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957. PASSED. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/s75 Jump up ^ Senate.gov web site Jump up ^ Caro, Robert ( 2002 ). Master of the Senate : The Years of Lyndon Johnson. New York : Knopf. ISBN 0 - 394 - 52836 - 0. Jump up ^ https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/Thurmond_filibuster_1957.pdf Jump up ^ Nichols, David. A. ( 2007 ). A Matter of Justice : Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution. New York : Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781416541509. OCLC 123968070. Jump up ^ Civil Rights Act of 1960 Archived 2008 - 10 - 24 at Archive.is Jump up ^ `` Transcript from the JFK library ''. the JFK library. 1963 - 06 - 11. Archived from the original on 2007 - 02 - 05. Retrieved 2011 - 10 - 28. Jump up ^ Civil Rights Act of 1964 Sources Finley, Keith M. ( 2008 ). Delaying the Dream : Southern Senators and the Fight Against Civil Rights, 1938 -- 1965. Baton Rouge : LSU Press. ISBN 9780807134610. OCLC 791398684. External links Civil Rights Act of 1957 Text Senate filibuster history Documents regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1957, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library Civil Rights Act of 1957, Civil Rights Digital Library. Civil rights movement ( 1950s and 1960s ) Notable events ( timeline ) Prior to 1954 Murder of Harry and Harriette Moore 1954 -- 1959 Brown v. Board of Education Bolling v. Sharpe Briggs v. Elliott Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County Gebhart v. Belton White America, Inc. Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company Emmett Till Montgomery bus boycott Browder v. Gayle Tallahassee bus boycott Mansfield school desegregation 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom `` Give Us the Ballot '' Royal Ice Cream sit - in Little Rock Nine National Guard blockade Civil Rights Act of 1957 Kissing Case Biloxi wade - ins 1960 -- 1963 Greensboro sit - ins Nashville sit - ins Sit - in movement Civil Rights Act of 1960 Gomillion v. Lightfoot Boynton v. Virginia Rock Hill sit - ins Robert F. Kennedy 's Law Day Address Freedom Rides attacks Garner v. Louisiana Albany Movement University of Chicago sit - ins `` Second Emancipation Proclamation '' Meredith enrollment, Ole Miss riot `` Segregation now, segregation forever '' Stand in the Schoolhouse Door 1963 Birmingham campaign Letter from Birmingham Jail Children 's Crusade Birmingham riot 16th Street Baptist Church bombing John F. Kennedy 's Report to the American People on Civil Rights March on Washington `` I Have a Dream '' St. Augustine movement 1964 -- 1968 Twenty - fourth Amendment Bloody Tuesday Freedom Summer workers ' murders Civil Rights Act of 1964 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches `` How Long, Not Long '' Voting Rights Act of 1965 Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections March Against Fear White House Conference on Civil Rights Chicago Freedom Movement / Chicago open housing movement Memphis sanitation strike King assassination funeral riots Poor People 's Campaign Civil Rights Act of 1968 Green v. County School Board of New Kent County Activist groups Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights Atlanta Student Movement Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Congress of Racial Equality ( CORE ) Committee on Appeal for Human Rights Council for United Civil Rights Leadership Dallas County Voters League Deacons for Defense and Justice Georgia Council on Human Relations Highlander Folk School Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Montgomery Improvement Association Nashville Student Movement NAACP Youth Council Northern Student Movement National Council of Negro Women National Urban League Operation Breadbasket Regional Council of Negro Leadership Southern Christian Leadership Conference ( SCLC ) Southern Regional Council Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ( SNCC ) The Freedom Singers Wednesdays in Mississippi Women 's Political Council Activists Ralph Abernathy Victoria Gray Adams Zev Aelony Mathew Ahmann William G. Anderson Gwendolyn Armstrong Arnold Aronson Ella Baker Marion Barry Daisy Bates Harry Belafonte James Bevel Claude Black Gloria Blackwell Randolph Blackwell Unita Blackwell Ezell Blair Jr. Joanne Bland Julian Bond Joseph E. Boone William Holmes Borders Amelia Boynton Raylawni Branch Ruby Bridges Aurelia Browder H. Rap Brown Guy Carawan Stokely Carmichael Johnnie Carr James Chaney J.L. Chestnut Colia Lafayette Clark Ramsey Clark Septima Clark Xernona Clayton Eldridge Cleaver Kathleen Cleaver Charles E. Cobb Jr. Annie Lee Cooper Dorothy Cotton Claudette Colvin Vernon Dahmer Jonathan Daniels Joseph DeLaine Dave Dennis Annie Devine Patricia Stephens Due Joseph Ellwanger Charles Evers Medgar Evers Myrlie Evers - Williams Chuck Fager James Farmer Walter Fauntroy James Forman Marie Foster Golden Frinks Andrew Goodman Fred Gray Jack Greenberg Dick Gregory Lawrence Guyot Prathia Hall Fannie Lou Hamer William E. Harbour Vincent Harding Dorothy Height Lola Hendricks Aaron Henry Oliver Hill Donald L. Hollowell James Hood Myles Horton Zilphia Horton T.R.M. Howard Ruby Hurley Jesse Jackson Jimmie Lee Jackson Richie Jean Jackson T.J. Jemison Esau Jenkins Barbara Rose Johns Vernon Johns Frank Minis Johnson Clarence Jones J. Charles Jones Matthew Jones Vernon Jordan Tom Kahn Clyde Kennard A.D. King C.B. King Coretta Scott King Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Sr. Bernard Lafayette James Lawson Bernard Lee Sanford R. Leigh Jim Letherer Stanley Levison John Lewis Viola Liuzzo Z. Alexander Looby Joseph Lowery Clara Luper Malcolm X Mae Mallory Vivian Malone Thurgood Marshall Benjamin Mays Franklin McCain Charles McDew Ralph McGill Floyd McKissick Joseph McNeil James Meredith William Ming Jack Minnis Amzie Moore Douglas E. Moore Harriette Moore Harry T. Moore William Lewis Moore Irene Morgan Bob Moses William Moyer Elijah Muhammad Diane Nash Charles Neblett Edgar Nixon Jack O'Dell James Orange Rosa Parks James Peck Charles Person Homer Plessy Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Fay Bellamy Powell Al Raby Lincoln Ragsdale A. Philip Randolph George Raymond Jr. Bernice Johnson Reagon Cordell Reagon James Reeb Frederick D. Reese Gloria Richardson David Richmond Bernice Robinson Jo Ann Robinson Bayard Rustin Bernie Sanders Michael Schwerner Cleveland Sellers Charles Sherrod Alexander D. Shimkin Fred Shuttlesworth Modjeska Monteith Simkins Glenn E. Smiley A. Maceo Smith Kelly Miller Smith Mary Louise Smith Maxine Smith Ruby Doris Smith - Robinson Charles Kenzie Steele Hank Thomas Dorothy Tillman A.P. Tureaud Hartman Turnbow Albert Turner C.T. Vivian Wyatt Tee Walker Hollis Watkins Walter Francis White Roy Wilkins Hosea Williams Kale Williams Robert F. Williams Andrew Young Whitney Young Sammy Younge Jr. James Zwerg Influences Nonviolence Padayatra Sermon on the Mount Mahatma Gandhi Ahimsa Satyagraha The Kingdom of God Is Within You Frederick Douglass W.E.B. Du Bois Mary McLeod Bethune Related Jim Crow laws Lynching in the United States Plessy v. Ferguson Separate but equal Buchanan v. Warley Hocutt v. Wilson Sweatt v. Painter Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States Katzenbach v. McClung Loving v. Virginia Fifth Circuit Four Brown Chapel Holt Street Baptist Church Edmund Pettus Bridge March on Washington Movement African - American churches attacked Journey of Reconciliation Freedom Songs `` Kumbaya '' `` Keep Your Eyes on the Prize '' `` Oh, Freedom '' `` This Little Light of Mine '' `` We Shall Not Be Moved '' `` We Shall Overcome '' Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam `` Beyond Vietnam : A Time to Break Silence '' Watts riots Voter Education Project 1960s counterculture Honoring In popular culture Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument Freedom Riders National Monument Civil Rights Memorial Other King memorials Noted historians Taylor Branch Clayborne Carson John Dittmer Michael Eric Dyson Chuck Fager Adam Fairclough David Garrow David Halberstam Vincent Harding Steven F. Lawson Doug McAdam Diane McWhorter Charles M. Payne Timothy Tyson Akinyele Umoja Movement photographers Dwight D. Eisenhower 34th President of the United States ( 1953 -- 1961 ) Supreme Allied Commander Europe ( 1951 -- 1952 ) Chief of Staff of the Army ( 1945 -- 1948 ) Commander, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force ( 1943 -- 1945 ) Military career Military career 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy Louisiana Maneuvers Operation Torch European Theater of Operations Allied invasion of Sicily Normandy landings Operation Veritable Military Governor, U.S. Occupation Zone in Germany Disarmed Enemy Forces European Advisory Commission Supreme Commander of NATO, 1951 - 1952 Presidency Presidency 1953 inauguration 1957 inauguration Korean War Armistice 1953 Iranian coup d'état `` Chance for Peace '' speech `` Atoms for Peace '' speech Civil Rights Act of 1957 Cold War Domino theory Khrushchev, Eisenhower and De-Stalinization New Look policy 1955 Geneva Summit 1960 U-2 incident NASA DARPA National Defense Education Act Interstate Highway System Suez Crisis Eisenhower Doctrine Little Rock Nine intervention Operation 40 Farewell address / `` Military -- industrial complex '' Office of Food for Peace President 's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports People to People Student Ambassador Program State of the Union Address ( 1955 1956 1960 ) Cabinet Judicial appointments Supreme Court Books Crusade in Europe ( 1948 ) Elections Draft Eisenhower movement Republican Party presidential primaries, 1948 1952 1956 Republican National Convention, 1952 1956 United States Presidential election, 1952 1956 Legacy Birthplace Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, gravesite Boyhood home Eisenhower National Historic Site Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Eisenhower Executive Office Building Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport Eisenhower Fellowships Eisenhower Institute Eisenhower Monument Eisenhower dollar commemorative U.S. Postage stamps Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center Eisenhower Medical Center Eisenhower Trophy Eisenhower Golf Club Eisenhower Theater Dwight D. Eisenhower ( Brothers ) Places named for Eisenhower Other tributes and memorials Popular culture Eisenhower jacket Eisenhower Tree Crusade in Europe ( 1949 television series ) Ike ( 1979 miniseries ) Ike : Countdown to D - Day ( 2004 film ) Pressure ( 2014 play ) Family Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower ( wife ) Doud Eisenhower ( son ) John Eisenhower ( son ) David Eisenhower ( grandson ) Anne Eisenhower ( granddaughter ) Susan Eisenhower ( granddaughter ) Mary Jean Eisenhower ( granddaughter ) Jennie Eisenhower ( great - granddaughter ) Ida Stover Eisenhower ( mother ) Earl D. Eisenhower ( brother ) Edgar N. Eisenhower ( brother ) Milton S. Eisenhower ( brother ) Related Eisenhower baseball controversy Camp David `` And I do n't care what it is '' Atoms for Peace Award Eddie Slovik Kay Summersby ← Harry S. Truman John F. Kennedy → Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Civil_Rights_Act_of_1957&oldid=847617698 '' Categories : 1957 in American law 85th United States Congress United States federal civil rights legislation Civil rights movement Anti-discrimination law in the United States Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Webarchive template archiveis links Wikipedia articles needing clarification from July 2017 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from October 2012 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Italiano Português Simple English Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 26 June 2018, at 16 : 33 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: who signed the civil rights act of 1957
Answer: Eisenhower