Lion in the Lobby

Clarence Mitchell, Jr.'s Struggle for the Passage of Civil Rights Laws

By (author) Denton L. Watson

Publication date:

18 September 2002

Length of book:

920 pages

Publisher

UPA

ISBN-13: 9780761822110

Clarence Mitchell, Jr. is unique in the pantheon of civil rights history. Born in Baltimore on March 18, 1911, he led the struggle in Washington for passage of the civil rights laws and promulgation of constructive national policies to protect the constitutional rights of African Americans and all other citizens suffering discrimination because of race, national origin, religion, sex, age, or sexual orientation. Lion in the Lobby chronicles Mitchell's life story and mission of getting the Congress to join the courts and the Executive Branch in upholding the Constitution in order to fulfill the NAACP's egalitarian philosophy. He worked with seven presidents, from Harry Truman to Jimmy Carter, to build a legacy of advocacy that won him the popular moniker of 101st senator and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1978. This revised edition is strengthened by a detailed account of the bitter battle within the NAACP over Mitchell's retirement. It also offers a fuller picture of Mitchell's differences with the philosophy of nonviolence.

Chapter 1 Foreword by Clarence Mitchell, Jr.
Chapter 2 Acknowledgements
Chapter 3 Introduction
Chapter 4 Journey Toward the Promised Land:
Chapter 5 Trauma of a Lynching
Chapter 6 Covering the Scottsboro Trials
Chapter 7 A Star is a Small Reward
Chapter 8 Neither North nor South
Chapter 9 A Man is Molded
Chapter 10 Launching a Career
Chapter 11 The FEPC Grail
Chapter 12 NAACP Labor Secretary
Chapter 13 Taking Command
Chapter 14 All-Out Attack on Segregation
Chapter 15 Confronting the Agony
Chapter 16 Shifting Strategy
Chapter 17 At the Crossroads
Chapter 18 Breakthrough
Chapter 19 The Undaunted Optimist
Chapter 20 Fulfilling a Dream:
Chapter 21 Challenge of the New Frontier
Chapter 22 Honing Political Support
Chapter 23 Guiding the Forces Through the Turbulence
Chapter 24 The 1964 Act: A Dream Realized
Chapter 25 101st Senator
Chapter 26 "Our Quarterback"
Chapter 27 Confronting the Politics of Reaction
Chapter 28 Epilogue
Chapter 29 Appendix I: Civil Rights Bills: Parliamentary Procedures
Chapter 30 Appendix II: Differences Between Voting Proposals and the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Chapter 31 Appendix III: What's in the Civil Rights Act?
Chapter 32 Notes
Chapter 33 Bibliography
Chapter 34 Principal Cases Cited
Chapter 35 Index

In Lion in the Lobby, Denton L. Watson has provided a well-researched, highly detailed account of Mitchell's fight to advance and protect civil rights for African Americans…it [is] a fundamental starting point for any student pursuing the study of his work, and it makes an important contribution to the overall history of the civil rights movement.