Robert F. Kennedy Civil Rights Letter

Collection

Identifier: M519

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

An unsigned, one-page letter to U.S. Attorney General Robert F. “Bob” Kennedy from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It appears that a local white woman wrote the letter. The letter describes the Freedom Riders and other civil rights activists negatively and criticizes the federal government for interfering in the Southern way of life.

Dates

June 5, 1961

Conditions Governing Access

Noncirculating; available for research.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).

Biographical / Historical

Robert F. “Bob” Kennedy was born on November 20, 1925 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was the seventh out of nine children born to Joseph P. and Rose Kennedy. In 1948, he received a government degree from Harvard University. Three years later, he graduated from the University of Virginia with a law degree. In 1950, he married Ethel Skakel, and they had eleven children together.

In 1952, he was a manager of his older brother John’s campaign. This became Robert’s political debut. The next year, he served on the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations for a brief period. Senator Joseph McCarthy chaired this subcommittee. After six months, Robert Kennedy resigned and returned to the Senate Subcommittee. After John F. Kennedy won the presidency, Robert was appointed Attorney General for his brother’s cabinet. Not long after President Kennedy’s assassination, Robert Kennedy resigned from his position and successfully ran for a Senate seat in New York in 1964. On March 16, 1968, Robert pronounced his Democratic candidacy for the presidential nomination. Less than three months later on June 5, Robert Francis Kennedy was fatally shot. He passed away at the age of forty-two.

Extent

1 Folder (1 item)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Provenance

Donated by Mrs. Virginia L. Walley.

Related Materials

M381 Joseph S. Schwartz Civil Rights Letters

M387 W.G. “Bud” Gray Papers

Processing Information

Collection processed and finding aid written by Shawna Guidry on July 17, 2018.

Sources:

*Case File

*Contents from Collection

• External Document (below)