In
January 1998, when U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded the Presidential Medal
of Freedom – the nation’s highest civilian honor — to Mr. James Farmer, it was
a moment of great pride for the entire nation. Mr. Farmer is the founder and
former national director of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and a long-time
civil rights and social reform activist.
A native of Marshall, Texas,
Mr. Farmer was one of the “Big Four” of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, which
included Martin Luther King, Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,
Roy Wilkins of the NAACP, and Whitney Young of the National Urban League.
"...stand up and
speak out on behalf of people denied inherent rights. "
Mr. Farmer earned bachelor
degrees from both Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, and the Howard University
School of Religion in Washington, D.C.
From 1961 until 1966, he served
as national director of CORE and emerged as one of the nation’s most prominent
and influential civil rights leaders. After leaving CORE in 1966, he headed
the Center for Community Action Education, a private agency established to develop
and implement a national literacy program.
In 1969, Mr. Farmer was appointed
by U.S. President Richard Nixon as assistant secretary for the U.S. Department
of Health, Education and Welfare. In 1972, he served as president of the Council
on Minority Planning and Strategy. Four years later, he was named associate
director of the Coalition of American Public Employees and, in 1977, was named
its executive director, representing nearly four million public workers throughout
the United States.
Mr. Farmer chronicled his life and
the struggle for civil rights in his autobiography, Lay Bare the Heart. His
work also chronicles his experiences as a teacher. In August 1998, Mr. Farmer
retired from his position as professor of history and American studies at Mary
Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he had served since 1985.
To today’s youth, the civil rights
warrior speaks: “Freedom and equality are inherent rights in the United States,
therefore, I encourage young people to take on the task by standing up and speaking
out on behalf of people denied those rights. We have not finished the job of
making our country whole.”
