James Farmer

Born

Jan 20, 1920

James Leonard Farmer Jr. was born in Marshall Texas

Wiley College

May 19, 1938

Farmer graduated from Wiley College with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry.

Howard University

May 19, 1941

Farmer graduates from Howard University School of Theology with a bachelor of divinity.

CORE

Apr 9, 1942

James Farmer and others form the Committee of Racial Equality (CORE). This organization stood for racial justice, and protesting non-violently. Organized one of the first major sit-ins at Jack Spratt Coffee House in Chicago.

Upholsterers International Union

Apr 10, 1945

Farmer started working for the Upholsterers International Union, helping to organize mill workers in North Carolina and Virginia. (1945 - 1947)

NAACP

Jun 9, 1959

Farmer became program director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He wanted the NAACP to take direct action and organize protests. (1959 - 1961)

Freedom Riders

May 4, 1961

Under the leadership of James Farmer, thirteen volunteers leave Washington D.C, for a bus trip through the South to protest segregation in interstate transportation. Supreme Court Cases (Morgan v. Virginia and Boynton v. Virginia) had ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. The South ignored the ruling and the federal government did nothing to enforce it.

Arrested

Aug 4, 1963

Farmer is arrested in Plaquemine, Louisiana, during a series of demonstrations and protests against police brutality.

Freedom—When?

Apr 10, 1965

Farmer publishes his book Freedom—When? In which he discusses the civil rights movement and his experiences.

Medal of Freedom

Jan 15, 1998

President Bill Clinton awards James Farmer the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Death

Jul 9, 1999

James Farmer dies from diabetes at Fredericksburg hospital.