New Online Exhibit Coming Soon!

Working with iconic civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Roy Wilkins, Richard Nixon was one of the most ardent of national leaders to support civil rights. The efforts of the Eisenhower administration, spearheaded by Vice President Nixon, culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1957 – the first of its kind since 1875. Still more, as President, Nixon desegregated Southern schools; created the Office of Minority Business Enterprise; increased funding for historically black colleges; and implemented the Philadelphia Plan, which established a federal affirmative action program for construction trade unions.