The Free State on Equal Rights

No domestic issue had more impact on American citizens during the 1960s than civil rights and the Civil Rights Movement.

Kansas, the old "Free State," was not immune from the movement's implication, tension, or violence that sometimes erupted. Western Kansans voiced their concerns, frustrations, fears, support and opposition to this crusade for equality.

Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act

Congressman Bob Dole received some letters opposed to the pending civil rights legislation in 1963 and early 1964, but most of his constituents expressed their support.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on February 10, 1964, and after some delay, cleared the U.S. Senate and was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, which President Johnson signed on August 6, 1965, passed the Senate by a vote of 77-19 on May 26, and the House 333-85 on July 9.

Dole supported both of these pieces of landmark legislation, but he and many of his constituents expressed reservations about increasing federal interference, especially in connection with the latter.

"I firmly believe that if our form of government is to have any meaning, no qualified citizen should be deprived of the right to vote." - Congressman Bob Dole, October 1965

house_153_002-063.jpg

Russell, Kansas, Constituent Letter

"America cannot hope to win the free world to our side as long as we look upon people different than we are as inferior, and treat them as such... We, as Kansans, want America to be safe for everyone, as it was ment [sic] to be!" - Russell, July 1963

A Russell constituent wrote Dole, as well as Senators James Pearson and Frank Carlson, and enclosed a petition, signed by more than thirty individuals "pleading" that the three Kansas lawmakers "vote for the proposed Civil Rights Legislation." Their message echoed a key theme in President John F. Kennedy's June 1963 address.

house_153_002_030.jpg

Hutchinson, Kansas, Constituent Letter

"Why are these people denied the right to vote?"           - Hutchinson, March 1965

In 1965, a Hutchinson woman wrote to express her concern about violence against civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama, and Jackson, Mississippi, even after the Civil Rights Act had become law.

house_153_001_007.jpg

Constituent Notecard

An Oakley man wrote to Dole on October 25, 1965, to "commend" the congressman for his "aye" vote on the Voting Rights Act, which the correspondent thought was "socialistic" but necessary under the current circumstances.

house_152_007_003.jpg

Public Law 88-352 Booklet

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, required equal access to public places and employment, and enforced desegregation of schools and the right to vote.

house_152_007_002.jpg

Voting Rights Act of 1965 Booklet

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned racial discrimination in voting practices. The Act was a response to barriers that prevented African Americans from voting for nearly a century.

Fair Housing Act of 1968

Congressional efforts to strengthen and expand civil rights legislation soon followed. Congressman Bob Dole had "some grave doubts about sections" of the proposed Civil Rights Act of 1966, which firmly addressed the issue of fair housing.

The Western Kansas congressman believed any homeowner "should have the right to sell or not to sell or rent, to anyone for any reason he may have without intervention from the government." When the opportunity presented itself in August 1966, he "voted against passage" of the bill because he feared "the rate at which individual liberty is slipping from our grasp... unfortunately, there seems to be no end in sight." It appears residents of the Big First overwhelmingly agreed.

The 1966 version of the Civil Rights Act did not pass. However, the 1968 version, known as the Fair Housing Act, did pass in the U.S. House of Representatives on April 10, 1968, less than a week after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on April 11, 1968.

house_047_011_065.jpg

McClinton Letter to Kansas Representatives

"This is one of the most important pieces of legislation in the history of America since the days of reconstruction. No longer can we be complacent and hold two standards of citizenship and call ourselves a democratic government in the eyes of the world." - Wichita, June 1966

Kansas State Senator Curtis R. McClinton, an African American businessman and Democrat from Wichita, wrote to all Kansas representatives on June 15, 1966, in favor of H.R. 14765, the Civil Rights Bill of 1966.

house_047_010_82.jpg

First Presbyterian Church Letter to Bob Dole

"I am watching carefully the attitude and actions of the Republican Party in this matter. I have always been a registered Republican but unless what I hear in the press is not true I will probably change my registration... I'm taking my stand where I think it will count, on the side of right and truth." - Dodge City, June 1966

In June 1966, a Presbyterian minister from Dodge City wrote in favor of the legislation and expressed concerns with the Republican Party's position.

house_047_010_073.jpg

Letter from Bob Dole to Garden City Constituents

"Many thousands of people will cease to invest in property if denied the right to sell to whom they choose." - Garden City, June 1966

A more typical constituent opinion was expressed in a 1966 letter from a Garden City couple.

house_098_009_pg265_266_Page_1.jpg

American Baptist Home Mission Societies Letter to Bob Dole

"Mr. Congressman, I really wish it were possible for you to change colors for just two weeks and travel this Nation and then I would dare you to get up and say that we are not on the verge of developing two separate societies in these United States; one Black and one White." - Topeka, 1968

In 1968, Rev. Dr. E. B. Hicks, a Topeka minister, wrote to Congressman Dole citing numerous examples of racism experience by him and his family in Kansas and elsewhere. Hicks was a World War II veteran and the first African American to serve as a Field Representative in the American Baptist Home Mission Societies Department of Cities.

"It is difficult for us in Western Kansas to fully appreciate the problem of the Negro in some of the southern areas. The percentage of Negros in Western Kansas is so small that many of us have never really understood the problem." - Congressman Dole to a Tribune constituent, April 1966

In 1962, African Americans made up only 1% of the constituency of the 1st district: just over 5,700 residents of nearly 542,000 total. Well over half of African Americans in the district lived in Barton, Reno and Saline counties.

The Free State on Equal Rights