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Dear Friends,
IT IS THAT TIME in a New Year when we discover whether we’re serious about our bold and aspirational pledges for betterment.
I don't know whether President Truman made personal New Year's resolutions, but I do know what he resolved to do for our nation. And 75 years ago, Americans discovered that Truman was serious about advancing civil rights and racial equity.
On January 12, 1949...
- Two years after forming the President’s Committee on Civil Rights
- One and a half years after his groundbreaking Civil Rights Address to the NAACP
- Six months after issuing Executive Order 9981, demanding the end of racial segregation in the armed forces
...Harry Truman called into session the group charged with carrying out his desegregation order.
That group was the newly formed President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Forces. Truman appointed Charles Fahy to chair the committee, and the president had this to say as it met for the first time, 75 years ago this week:
“It is my profound desire that the work of this Committee shall yield results which will not simply be a report, but a set of operable plans, a blueprint, for constructive action. The national security requires that you make your contribution, consistent with the fundamental rights of all men, toward the full development of the strength of our country.”
Three days later, on January 15, 1949, a theology student in Pennsylvania celebrated his 20th birthday. It would be six years before the nation would know the name Martin Luther King, Jr., and 14 years before he declared, "I have a dream," before nearly 250,000 people on the National Mall.
Those of you interested in the preservation of historic documents may have wondered what happened to the original copy of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech—one of the most important speeches in American history.
The story is more than a little surprising: for years, the pages were tucked inside a biography of Harry Truman.
Journalist Curtis Bunn shared the story in the Atlanta Black Star back in 2015:
As a 26-year-old coach at Villanova in Philadelphia, Raveling decided four days before the rally to volunteer. He had no idea that he would be posted just several feet from Dr. King.... When it was over, after King had inspired the masses in his eloquent way, Raveling found himself face-to-face with [the civil rights] icon.
“Dr. King,” Raveling said, pointing at the papers, “can I have that?”
Without hesitation, King handed Raveling the speech, and suddenly there was a mass of people between them. Raveling folded the papers and slid them in his pocket...[and] stored it in a biography of former president HarryS. Truman that Truman signed for him in Kansas City.
The three loose sheets of paper stayed inside that Truman biography for nearly two decades while Raveling built an impressive coaching career.
There's a kind of poetic synchronicity in the fact that the pages of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech lived within the pages of Truman's life story.
But why was it there? Why were civil rights activists in the 1960s reading about America's 33rd president?
The answer is clear to me: Truman had created the blueprint. It was the template for addressing inequality in 1963, and it continues to serve as a visionary guide for civil rights reform.
Today, as we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.—and reflect on our own dreams and resolutions—it's good to remember that history is made not by heroes.
History is made by individuals who are responsive to the events of their time—courageous individuals, both citizens and elected representatives, who have a deep understanding of our founding ideals and an unwavering resolve to the rights guaranteed by our Constitution.
2024 promises to be a consequential year, and President Truman's legacy of leadership has much to teach us. Thank you for standing with us as we shine a light on our nation's past and inspire the next generation of heroes and history makers.
Stay TRU,
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