Civil-Rights Activism in Maine, 1945-1971

Abstract

Like civil-rights activists everywhere, those in Maine challenged racism and inequality in postwar America. Two factors - the size of the African-American minority in Maine, and the subtle but insidious forms of racism in the state - shaped NAACP strategies in Bangor, Lewiston, Brunswick, and Portland. Beginning with a small core group in the 1950s, the NAACP succeeded in building a basis for civil-rights legislation in Maine - a legacy, as Lumpkins points out - shared by all Mainers today. A native of Massachusetts, Mr. Lumpkins earned a M.L.S. from Simmons College in 1977 and a M.A. in history from the University of Maine in 1992. He is a candidate for the doctorate in American history at Pennsylvania State University, and a librarian and member of the faculty at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.