Behind the Scenes of the Civil Rights Movements is a digitized primary source collection that focuses on the histories of civil rights activism. The collection launched in 2023 with its first batch of digitized content, which concentrates on African Americans’ experiences in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. When complete, the collection will contain materials documenting civil rights movements and the involvement of everyday people of Black, Latine, Indigenous, and Asian American/Pacific Islander communities.
Primary source materials in this collection are sourced from colleges and universities, historical societies, public libraries, community archives, and other institutions. A wide range of document types are included, such as correspondence, demonstration plan outlines, transportation logs and plans, meeting minutes, programs from worship services, and photographs.