Historical Markers StoppingPoints.com Historical Markers, Sightseeing & Points of Interest Scenic Roads & Points of Interest
About Us | Photo Gallery | Free Widgets | Featured States | Search Site
Register or Edit LoginRegister
Home Virginia Spotsylvania County James Farmer, Civil Rights Leader

James Farmer, Civil Rights Leader

Jefferson Davis Hwy, VA , USA

Latitude & Longitude: 38° 11' 6.082836", -77° 30' 46.090152"
  Virginia VA State Historical Marker
Virginia State
Historical Marker

 
James Leonard Farmer was born in Texas on 12 Jan. 1920. In 1942, he and other Civil Rights leaders founded the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in Chicago. CORE used Gandhi-inspired tactics of nonviolent civil disobedience to protest discriminatory practices against blacks. Under Farmer's leadership, in the spring of 1961, CORE organized Freedom Riders to desegregate interstate transportation in the Deep South. He was an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1969-1970). Farmer taught at Mary Washington College (1985-1999) and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998. Farmer died on 9 July 1999. His house stands east of here.

Last updated: 2/14/2015 15:17:00
 
   
 
See all Virginia African American History locations.
 
 
 
James Farmer, Civil Rights Leader Virginia Map