The Long Civil Rights Movement: Continuities and Discontinuities in 20th Century U.S. History

This seminar explores the Long Civil Rights Movement debate, which examines competing perspectives on the scope and timeline of the Civil Rights Movement. While the traditional view confines the movement to the 1950s–60s Southern United States, the Long Movement thesis argues that the struggle for racial justice began much earlier, with roots in the New Deal era, and extended beyond the 1960s, addressing issues such as economic inequality, labor rights, and racial justice nationwide.

We will examine key historiographical debates on the movement’s origins, continuity, geography, and relationship to Black Power, the labor movement, feminism, and other social movements, and consider how this broader perspective reshapes our understanding of civil rights activism in the U.S. and its place in 20th-century U.S. history. To do so, this course draws on a diverse body of scholarship to explore the Long Civil Rights Movement debate and explores key historiographical debates on the origins, evolution, and long-term impact of the struggle for racial justice in the United States.