The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003 Page: 106

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2,
1964, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. Many civil
rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr.; senior members of the Justice
Department; and members of the House and Senate gathered to watch the his-
toric occasion. Lady Bird Johnson wrote in her diary, "I left the East Room feel-
ing that I had seen the beginning of something in this nation's history fraught
with untold good-much pain and trouble." Lady Bird Johnson, along with pres-
idential aide Bill Moyers, civil rights leader James Farmer, and the Johnsons'
cook, Zephyr Wright, were four people from Marshall, Texas, who had an
impact on the passage of this landmark civil rights legislation. Gail K Beil dis-
cusses "Four Marshallites' Roles in the Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964" in
an article beginning on page 1 of this issue. LBJLabrary Photo by O. J. Rapp.