The years of the Apollo Program coincided with the height of the civil rights movement. The intersection of these two subjects was particularly relevant in NASA’s southern facilities where programs of equal employment opportunity, first promoted through Presidential Executive Order and later through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, challenged generations of Jim Crow segregation. In May 1966, civil rights leader and the director of the National Urban League, Whitney Young Jr., came to Huntsville where he provided the commencement address at Alabama A&M University. Afterwards, Alabama A&M University president, Dr. Richard Morrison arranged for a visit to Marshall where center leadership discussed the expansion of new programs to advance equal employment at the center and contractors.
This photo was taken during Young’s visit to Marshall Space Flight Center. From left: L.R. Patton (Alabama A&M University), Milton Cummings (President of Brown Engineering), Whitney Young Jr., Dave Newby (Marshall Space Flight Center), and Dr. Richard D. Morrison (president Alabama A&M University).
Image credit: NASA