The Civil Rights Movement
”I came to Nashville not to bring inspiration, but to gain inspiration from the great movement that has taken place in this community,” said the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1960, Nashville was a national center for freedom rides and sit-ins, protests and integration, and non-violent activism. Vanderbilt’s collections contain the stories of some of the key figures in the Civil Rights Movement, including the archives of the Reverends James M. Lawson, Jr. and Kelly Miller Smith. Additionally, the collections of Salynn McCollum, Sue Kirtland Green, Frances M. Crater and the Nashville Peace Action Center provide rich resources for those researching 20th century social justice activism.
![[Reverend James M. Lawson Before Memphis School Board]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/out-of-the-vault/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/2021/08/MLK-Lawson_Before_Memphis_School_Board-Lawson-800px-640x480.jpg)
![[Freedom Riders, John Lewis, Charles Butler, Catherine Burks Brooks, Lucretia Collins, and Salynn McCollum Sit on a Bench in the Birmingham Greyhound Station].](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/out-of-the-vault/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/2021/08/Civil_Rights_008-800px-640x480.jpg)
![[Memphis Police Pass]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/out-of-the-vault/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/2021/08/MLK-Police_Pass-Lawson-800px-640x478.jpg)