All Americans Move Forward [Drop title]

Washington, D.C.: Democratic National Committee/United Publishing Co, 1964. Very good. 8½” x 4” (folded). Single sheet measuring 8½” x 20”, printed both sides and folded to create a 10-panel pamphlet. Very good: faint offsetting to front panel; else internally bright with minimal wear.

This is a rare promotional brochure for Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 presidential campaign, focusing on “total war on prejudice and poverty.” It features great photographic images of notable Black leaders and a list of African Americans in federal positions at the time.

The brochure includes an excerpt from Johnson's 1964 State of the Union message extolling (truncated) the 1963 congressional session, “which did more for civil rights than the last hundred sessions combined.” The text stressed that:

“All of these increased opportunities in employment, in education, in housing, and in every field, must be open to Americans of every color. As far as the writ of Federal law will run, we must abolish not some, but all racial discrimination, for this is not merely an economic issue, or a social, political, or international issue. It is a moral issue, and must be met this session by the passage of the bill now pending in the House.”

Along with a cover shot of the president, the pamphlet holds five images of Johnson meeting and conferring with African American leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., “Mrs. Rosa Gragg of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs and Miss Dorothy Height of the National Council of Negro Women,” Hobart Taylor of the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and Carl Rowan, Director of the United States Information Agency. The rear was dedicated to “a partial listing of federal posts held by Negro decision-makers” including U.S. attorneys and federal judges, commissioners and representatives of the White House, regulatory agencies, the District of Columbia and more – nearly 100 names in all. It also held a form to “become an enrolled member of the Democratic Party” as well as text eulogizing John F. Kennedy, “the greatest leader of our time . . . struck down by the foulest deed.”

A rare and compelling piece of African American political history. OCLC shows two holdings. (Inventory #: 8398)