[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 16334]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 16334]]

                       TRIBUTE TO JAMES L. FARMER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JULIAN C. DIXON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 15, 1999

  Mr. DIXON. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues today in mourning the 
passing of one of America's greatest civil rights leaders, James L. 
Farmer, Jr. Mr. Farmer who served alongside Martin Luther King, Jr., 
and other civil rights giants of the 1950's and 1960s and led Freedom 
Rides throughout the South, died July 9 in a Fredericksburg, VA, 
hospital.
  As one of the founders of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 
1942, Farmer was considered one of the ``Big Four'' Civil Rights 
leaders along with Dr. King, NAACP chief, Roy Wilkins, and Urban League 
head Whitney Young. Farmer was the last surviving member of that 
courageous and august group.
  James Farmer was born on January 12, 1920, in Marshall, TX. He was 
the son of Dr. James Leonard Farmer, who was the first African American 
in Texas to hold a doctorate, and Pearl Farmer. James entered Wiley 
College in Marshall as a 14-year-old freshman. He graduated from Wiley 
in 1938 and entered the Howard University School of Religion here in 
Washington, DC. He received his bachelor of divinity degree in 1941, 
and planned to follow his father into the ministry. However, upon 
learning that he would be required to preach to a segregated 
congregation, he declined ordination and set course on a path that 
would lead him into the civil rights movement.
  In 1942, James Farmer and a few others organized CORE. Later that 
year in Chicago, Farmer initiated what is believed to be the first 
organized sit-in in United States history. In 1961, Farmer became 
CORE's national director. He organized and led the famous Freedom Rides 
of 1961, which took black and white protesters on Greyhound and 
Trailways buses from Washington, DC, to Jackson, MS, to challenge Jim 
Crow laws requiring racial segregation on public transportation. Soon 
after the famed Freedom Rides, Mr. Farmer met with Vice President 
Johnson and recommended what he called ``preferential treatment'' for 
black people trying to get into all-white schools and workplaces. This 
suggestion would later become the cornerstone of President Johnson's 
``affirmative action'' policies.
  Mr. Farmer's involvement with the civil rights movement often brought 
him face to face with threats of violence. He endured beatings and 
jailings and barely escaped lynching one night in Louisiana.
  Mr. Farmer was an early proponent and follower of the nonviolent 
ideology espoused by Mahatma Gandi. In recognition of his esteemed 
contributions to equality and civil rights, President Clinton in 1998 
bestowed on Mr. Farmer the highest government honor a civilian can 
receive, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
  James Farmer's contribution to the cause of equality cannot be 
understated. After stepping down as CORE's national director, Mr. 
Farmer went on to teach at Lincoln University, the alma mater of 
another of America's finest sons, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood 
Marshall. He also served a brief stint as the Assistant Secretary at 
what was then known as the Department of Health, Education, and 
Welfare, and authored two books. Mr. Farmer was a quiet but 
indefatigable warrior in helping to open doors and create opportunities 
for thousands of African-American citizens. He leaves a lasting legacy 
and will be sorely missed. I extend my condolences to his surviving 
daughters, Tami Farmer Gonzales and Abbey Farmer Levin.

                          ____________________