LBJ visits Northern Nevada

It has been 50 years and $20 trillion since President Lyndon Johnson announced his War on Poverty to bring education, health care, and jobs to the underprivileged and downtrodden so they could live the American Dream. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark piece of civil rights legislation that outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities, and women, ending unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public.

Four months after signing the legislation, LBJ visited Northern Nevada, speaking at Powning Park in downtown Reno. In his opening remarks beginning at 9:57, the morning of October 12th, 1964, he referred to Governor and Mrs. Grant Sawyer, Senators Alan Bible and Howard Cannon, and Congressman Walter Baring, all of Nevada, thanking them for their help in passing the bill.