SEE WWW.WHITEHOUSETAPES.ORG

Transcripts: Each of the transcripts is available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. The free Adobe Acrobat Reader is available in Windows, Macintosh, and Unix versions here.

Sound Files: Each of the sound files is available in Microsoft Windows Media Audio format. They will therefore play in several standard (and free) audio programs, some of which you most probably already have installed. These include Windows Media Player, Real One Player (download the free version), or WinAmp. Several other players will also work. You can either open the file directly or save it to your hard disk. Then try opening it. While playing, you can minimize whatever player it is so that you can follow the transcript along on the screen.

The sound files vary from between 2MB to 9MB, so broadband or a connection through the University network is recommended.

Library computers with headphones are available in the Miller Center's Library, Digital Media Lab in the Robertson Media Center, as well as several other computer labs on grounds. Most sound cards on home computers also have a headphone plug (sometimes same as speaker) that will accept standard Walkman-type headphones. Alternatively, of course, computer speakers can also be used but tend to be less clear.

The sound quality of these files closely resembles the sound quality of the original tapes. Some of it is hard to hear. You may find it useful to resist the temptation to turn the volume up too loud as that actually makes it harder after a while.

Freedom Summer samples:

• Johnson to Mrs. Nathan Schwerner, mother of missing Civil Rights worker Michael Schwerner, June 23, 1964, 8:35 p.m. President Johnson informed Mrs. Schwerner that the burned remains of the workers' car contained no bodies and apparently had footprints leading from it.
• Cartha "Deke" DeLoach, Assistant Director of the FBI, to President Johnson, August 4, 1964, 8:01 p.m., followed by instructions to Lee White. Deloach told Johnson that they had recovered the bodies of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.

War on Poverty

• Johnson to Walker Stone, editor-in-chief of Scripps Howard Newspapers, January 6, 1964, 3:48 P.M. Johnson defended his War on Poverty in colloquial terms to a moderately conservative journalist.
• Johnson to Robert Anderson, Eisenhower's Treasury Secretary, January 8, 1964, 10:37 A.M. Two hours before his first State of the Union address, Johnson defends his proposed "war on human poverty" to a key economic adviser.
• Johnson to Henry Luce, head of Time, Inc. January 3, 1964, 2:54 P.M. Focusing on Appalachia, Johnson explains his war on poverty to the publisher of Time magazine.

Temporary Samples:

• With Sargent Shriver, Feb 1, 1964. 18:39. WH6402.01. LBJ Library Description:
• With Sargent Shriver, Feb. 1, 1964. 8:17 [first] 13:31 [second]. WH6402.01. LBJ Library Description[first]. LBJ Library Description [second]
• With George Wallace and Then Russell Long, Selma march. March 18, 1965. WH6503.09.
• With J.Edgar Hoover. Selma, Viola Liuzzo investigation. March 26, 1965. WH6503.13.
• With Martin Luther King, Jr., Voting Rights Act and Vietnam, July 7, 1965. WH6507.02.

• LBJ on the Republican Party, with Martin Luther King, Jr., July 7, 1965, regarding votes for Voting Rights legislation.

Other Civil Rights multimedia:

• A Panel Discussion of the Wednesdays in Mississippi Project, with Julian Bond, Holly Schulman, and Kent Germany. [requires Real One Player.]

Flash Demos:

President Johnson with Jacqueline Kennedy, December 2, 1963.

Ten days after the assassination of John Kennedy, President Johnson phoned the former president's widow, who was preparing to move out of the White House (which she did four days later). In their first recorded conversation, the two exchanged pleasantries and and declared their gratitude. Repeating something that he "told my mama a long time ago," President Johnson also explained the valuable roles that he believed the women in his life had played in his political career.

President Kennedy, meeting with White Birmingham Leaders, September 23, 1963, about Realities of Desegregation

In this snippet taken from a much longer meeting, President Kennedy met with white Birmingham leaders a few days after the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. The sections illuminate the issue of non-violent direct action and the roles of Civil Rights organizations, particularly the SCLC and SNCC. The transcript and audio also offer ways to examine the functional problems associated with federal school desegregation efforts. By using much larger chunks of this conversation and one four days earlier with Martin Luther King, Jr. and black leaders from Birmingham, students should evaluate Kennedy’s differing approaches to the two groups. [that earlier conversation is not online here at the moment] In the white meeting, he was occasionally stern and occasionally chummy, but always controlled the dialogue. In a meeting four days earlier with King, Fred Shuttlesworth, and others, Kennedy was far more passive, seemingly deferring to the black leaders and mostly offering platitudes about keeping the peace.