Truman Civil Rights Symposium

Library of Congress; National Archives; George Washington University
Washington, DC

On July 26, 1948, with the stroke of a pen, President Harry S. Truman changed the course of American history. By signing Executive Order 9981, “Establishing the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services,” he officially declared that “there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.” His action reflected the growing realization by more and more Americans that our nation could no longer reconcile segregation with the values we had fought a war to uphold.

Seventy-five years on, a three-day public symposium in Washington, D.C. will commemorate the anniversary of this watershed moment for advancing civil rights in America. Together with nationally prominent military and civilian leaders, elected officials, journalists and historians, we will honor the service and sacrifice of Black veterans, celebrate this landmark decision that paved the road for civil rights legislation and Supreme Court decisions in the 1950s and 1960s, and explore the legacy of President Truman’s executive order “to secure these rights.”