Charles C. Diggs, Jr.

Charles C. Diggs, Jr., founder of the Congressional Black Caucus, spent 25 years in Congress, pushing for change, on issues from segregation in commercial aviation to home-rule for the residents of Washington, DC, to the anti-apartheid movement. His legislative accomplishments were overshadowed by his downfall, and today his story doesn’t receive the attention of other Civil Rights heroes. Joining me in this episode is Dr. Marion Orr, Frederick Lippitt Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Political Science at Brown University and author of House of Diggs: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Consequential Black Congressman, Charles C. Diggs Jr.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-audio is “Bad Luck Blues,” performed by Gertrude “Ma” Rainey in 1923; the performance is in the public domain. The episode image is an official Congressional photo of Charles Diggs, Jr., in the public domain and available via Wikimedia Commons.

Additional sources:

• “DIGGS, Charles Coles, Jr.,” Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives.
• “Charles Diggs, 75, Congressman Censured Over Kickbacks,” by Irvin Molotsky, The New York Times, August 26, 1998.
• “Eyes on the Prize; Interview with Charles Coles Diggs Jr., 1985-11-06 [video],” Film and Media Archive, Washington University in St. Louis, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC.
• “Regional Council of Negro Leadership,” by Ten Ownby, Mississippi Encyclopedia.
• “Mound Bayou (1887- ),” by Herbert G. Ruffin II, BlackPast, January 18, 2007.
• “Emmett Till's Death Inspired a Movement,” Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture.
• “About the CBC,” Congressional Black Caucus.
• “D.C. Home Rule,” Council of the District of Columbia.

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