This two-volume reference offers a fresh historical perspective that sees civil rights as evolving out of many, often diverse, sources and movements, including the Bill of Rights as well as critical developments such as the African-American civil rights movement of post-World War II in America. Presenting theory as well as the historical realities, editors Martin (history, U. of California) and Sullivan (W.E.B. Du Bois Institute, Harvard U.) treat both the upside and the downside of the theory and practice of civil rights in the U.S. since the founding of the nation. The individual and group-based biographical entries, along with other accounts and discussions, seek to capture the diverse and various tributaries that have flowed into and out of the mighty river of civil rights. In particular, they shift the discussion to include the struggles of other peoples of color as well as of other marginalized groups such as women, lesbians and gays, immigrants, and the differently abled, thus showing that the struggle for civil rights is at the very center of the American experience. Contains many b&w photographs. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.