Farmer, James Leonard

Farmer, James Leonard
▪ 2000

      American civil rights leader (b. Jan. 12, 1920, Marshall, Texas—d. July 9, 1999, Fredericksburg, Va.), led the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and introduced the nonviolent sit-ins and Freedom Rides that became emblematic of the African-American struggle for equal opportunity and freedom of choice. One of the leading organizations at the height of the civil rights movement of the early 1960s, CORE organized demonstrations throughout the South amid vicious responses by whites: CORE volunteers were assaulted, teargassed, imprisoned, and killed. Farmer himself braved a Ku Klux Klan plan to murder him and once escaped Louisiana state troopers by hiding inside a coffin housed in a hearse. His efforts, along with those of others, led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights acts (1964–65). Farmer grew up in Holly Springs, Miss., where his minister-professor father taught theology at the all-black Rust College; Farmer studied at Wiley (Texas) College and Howard University, Washington, D.C., before working for the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR). Influenced by the nonviolent methods of Mohandas Gandhi, he cofounded CORE in Chicago in 1942. After the South disregarded the U.S. Supreme Court's 1946 decision stating that segregated seating on interstate buses was unconstitutional, CORE and FOR protested with the first Freedom Ride by blacks and whites together. CORE staged a major Freedom Ride again in May 1961 to test and break down segregated accommodations in interstate transportation. Freedom Riders were beaten, firebombed, and attacked by crowds; only after U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy ordered state officials to provide protection could the ride be completed, after which Farmer spent 40 days in Mississippi jails. Meanwhile, CORE volunteers were peacefully conducting public sit-ins to protest segregation. Scheduled to speak, with the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., at the 1963 March on Washington, Farmer instead listened to the radio broadcast of the event from his jail cell in Louisiana. After resigning as director of CORE in 1965, he ran for congress from Brooklyn, N.Y., as a liberal candidate, was an assistant secretary of health, education, and welfare in Pres. Richard Nixon's first administration, wrote books on labour and race relations, and taught in colleges. In 1998 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Pres. Bill Clinton.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Farmer,James Leonard — Farmer, James Leonard. 1920 1999. American civil rights leader who founded the Congress of Racial Equality (1942), served as its national director (1961 1966), and advocated nonviolent forms of protest. * * * …   Universalium

  • Farmer, James — ▪ American civil rights activist in full  James Leonard Farmer, Jr.  born January 12, 1920, Marshall, Texas, U.S. died July 9, 1999, Fredericksburg, Virginia  American civil rights activist who, as a leader of the Congress of Racial Equality… …   Universalium

  • James Leonard Farmer — noun United States civil rights leader who in 1942 founded the Congress of Racial Equality (born in 1920) • Syn: ↑Farmer • Instance Hypernyms: ↑civil rights leader, ↑civil rights worker, ↑civil rights activist …   Useful english dictionary

  • James L. Farmer, Jr. — James Leonard Farmer, Jr. (January 12, 1920 – July 9, 1999) was a Black civil rights activist who was one of the big 4 leaders of the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s (along with Roy Wilkins, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King… …   Wikipedia

  • James L. Farmer, Sr. — James Leonard Farmer (June 12, 1886 ndash; May 14, 1961) was an American author, theologian, educator, and the first African American Texan to earn a doctorate. Farmer served as a deacon in the Methodist Episcopal Church and as an administrator… …   Wikipedia

  • James L. Farmer — James Leonard Farmer is the name of:*James L. Farmer, Sr., first African American Texan to earn a doctorate *James L. Farmer, Jr., one of the Big Three leaders of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement …   Wikipedia

  • Farmer — /fahr meuhr/, n. 1. Fannie (Merritt) /mer it/, 1857 1915, U.S. authority on cooking. 2. James (Leonard), born 1920, U.S. civil rights leader. * * * (as used in expressions) Farmer s Almanac Farmer Fannie Merritt Farmer Labor Party * * * …   Universalium

  • Farmer — I. biographical name Fannie Merritt 1857 1915 American cookery expert II. biographical name James Leonard 1920 1999 American civil rights leader …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Farmer — Far•mer [[t]ˈfɑr mər[/t]] n. 1) big Fannie (Merritt), 1857–1915, U.S. authority on cooking 2) big James (Leonard), 1920–99, U.S. civil rights leader …   From formal English to slang

  • Leonard J. Arrington — Leonard James Arrington (July 2 1917 ndash; February 11 1999) was an author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association. He is known as the Dean of Mormon History and the Father of Mormon History because of his many influential… …   Wikipedia

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