Civil Rights Activist William Patterson, In Paris, Refuses to Surrender Passport
William Patterson, Executive Secretary of the Civil Rights Congress, a left-wing civil rights organization, refused to surrender his passport on this day to U.S. Embassy officials in Paris.
The demand for his passport was evidently in response to the Civil Rights Congress petition to the United Nations nine days earlier, on December 17, 1951, charging the U.S. with genocide because of its treatment of African-Americans. The Civil Rights Congress, a left-wing civil rights group, was founded on April 27, 1946.
The Civil Rights Congress , formed in April 1946, was heavily attacked during the Cold War because of its left-wing positions, and finally disbanded in 1956.
The battle over Passport Office denial of passports to controversial figures included civil rights activist Paul Robeson (August 4, 1950), artist Rockwell Kent (August 7, 1950), and civil libertarian Corliss Lamont (October 15, 1951).
Learn more about the Civil Rights Congress: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/civil-rights-congress-1946-1956
Learn more about Ruth Shipley, head of the Passport Office, and her legacy: Mrs. Shipley’s Ghost: The Right to Travel and Terrorist Watchlists (2013)
Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture here