[Civil Rights]

In 8s (6 3/4 x 9 1/4 in; 172 x 235 mm). Stiff blue wrappers. 

A LANDMARK REPORT ON CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE 20TH CENTURY, AND A "SHOCKING REVELATION" TO PRESIDENT TRUMAN, WHICH LED DIRECTLY TO HIS 1948 EXECUTIVE ORDER ENDING SEGREGATION IN THE MILITARY AND THE FEDERAL WORK FORCE.

Truman established the President's Committee on Civil Rights on December 5, 1946, and nearly a year later, in October 1947, the committee released its report. It covered a range of issues including discrimination in access to restaurants, hotel accommodations, and transportation. Growing up in a part of Missouri where Jim Crow laws still held sway, Truman shared some of the prejudices of his fellow Missourians. After this report, though, at great political risk, Truman began a campaign to combat civil injustice. 

Based on this report, on July 26, 1948, Truman signed Executive Order 9980, which desegregated the federal work force, and Executive Order 9981, which ended segregation in the armed forces.