{"id":{"repo_id":"tdl","oai_identifier":"oai:tdl-ir.tdl.org:20.500.11875/5219"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/tdl/oai:tdl-ir.tdl.org:20.500.11875/5219","repository":{"repo_id":"tdl","name":"Texas Digital Library","base_url":"https://tdl-ir.tdl.org/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"One route to affirmative action: executive orders and equal employment opportunities for blacks, 1941-1965","abstract":"The concept of equal employment opportunity began as an effort to open jobs previously denied to blacks. From 1941 to 1965, several factors, including state laws, federal legislation, court decisions, social change, and the actions of civil rights groups, contributed to an expansion of the concept. The result of the evolution was affirmative action, the name applied to the government efforts to end discrimination in employment through implantation of programs designed to enforce compliance and to measure progress and accountability. During this time, five presidents contributed to the development of affirmative action thought he use of equal employment executive orders. The actions of the presidents were not separate from general developments in civil rights; they were often the result of responses to change, tempered by political and moral considerations. President Franklin Roosevelt, responding to pressure from civil rights leaders, issued the first equal employment order in 1941. Designed to open employment in government and in defense industries, it created the Fair Employment Practice Committee. President Harry Truman expanded the concept with the introduction of contract compliance and with the establishment of committees to develop a comprehensive civil rights program and to oversee desegregation of the armed services. The belief in gradual civil rights change and in limited executive action marked the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower. As a result, the focus shifted to a multi-dimensional approach to civil rights. By the end of the 1950’s, the Supreme Court ruled the nation’s schools should be integrated and Congress passed the first major civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. President John Kennedy strengthened the compliance requirements of former equal employment orders and initiated efforts to pass an omnibus civil rights bill. Enacted during the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provided a legal basis for the equal employment executive order process. Johnson completed the process by moving the affirmative action programs into existing departments of the government. It took more than twenty years to formalize the fair employment process in the executive branch of the federal government. The evolution came as a result of trial and error, gradual reform, and much controversy. Five presidents participated in the process and each made lasting contributions. The cumulative result of their executive orders, affirmative action, became the basis for later interpretation and refinement, but it represented a benchmark in civil rights.","abstract_html":"The concept of equal employment opportunity began as an effort to open jobs previously denied to blacks. From 1941 to 1965, several factors, including state laws, federal legislation, court decisions, social change, and the actions of civil rights groups, contributed to an expansion of the concept. The result of the evolution was affirmative action, the name applied to the government efforts to end discrimination in employment through implantation of programs designed to enforce compliance and to measure progress and accountability. During this time, five presidents contributed to the development of affirmative action thought he use of equal employment executive orders. The actions of the presidents were not separate from general developments in civil rights; they were often the result of responses to change, tempered by political and moral considerations. President Franklin Roosevelt, responding to pressure from civil rights leaders, issued the first equal employment order in 1941. Designed to open employment in government and in defense industries, it created the Fair Employment Practice Committee. President Harry Truman expanded the concept with the introduction of contract compliance and with the establishment of committees to develop a comprehensive civil rights program and to oversee desegregation of the armed services. The belief in gradual civil rights change and in limited executive action marked the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower. As a result, the focus shifted to a multi-dimensional approach to civil rights. By the end of the 1950’s, the Supreme Court ruled the nation’s schools should be integrated and Congress passed the first major civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. President John Kennedy strengthened the compliance requirements of former equal employment orders and initiated efforts to pass an omnibus civil rights bill. Enacted during the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provided a legal basis for the equal employment executive order process. Johnson completed the process by moving the affirmative action programs into existing departments of the government. It took more than twenty years to formalize the fair employment process in the executive branch of the federal government. The evolution came as a result of trial and error, gradual reform, and much controversy. Five presidents participated in the process and each made lasting contributions. The cumulative result of their executive orders, affirmative action, became the basis for later interpretation and refinement, but it represented a benchmark in civil rights.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Utley, Dan K."],"institution":"Sam Houston State University","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Olson, James S.","Terry D. Bilhartz","Randy Roberts"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1985,"date_issued":"1985","date_published":"1985","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:19:35Z","subjects":["Affirmative action programs--United States","Executive orders--United States"],"languages":["en_US"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11875/5219","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Olson, James S.","Terry D. 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From 1941 to 1965, several factors, including state laws, federal legislation, court decisions, social change, and the actions of civil rights groups, contributed to an expansion of the concept. The result of the evolution was affirmative action, the name applied to the government efforts to end discrimination in employment through implantation of programs designed to enforce compliance and to measure progress and accountability. During this time, five presidents contributed to the development of affirmative action thought he use of equal employment executive orders. The actions of the presidents were not separate from general developments in civil rights; they were often the result of responses to change, tempered by political and moral considerations. President Franklin Roosevelt, responding to pressure from civil rights leaders, issued the first equal employment order in 1941. Designed to open employment in government and in defense industries, it created the Fair Employment Practice Committee. President Harry Truman expanded the concept with the introduction of contract compliance and with the establishment of committees to develop a comprehensive civil rights program and to oversee desegregation of the armed services. The belief in gradual civil rights change and in limited executive action marked the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower. As a result, the focus shifted to a multi-dimensional approach to civil rights. By the end of the 1950’s, the Supreme Court ruled the nation’s schools should be integrated and Congress passed the first major civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. President John Kennedy strengthened the compliance requirements of former equal employment orders and initiated efforts to pass an omnibus civil rights bill. Enacted during the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provided a legal basis for the equal employment executive order process. Johnson completed the process by moving the affirmative action programs into existing departments of the government. It took more than twenty years to formalize the fair employment process in the executive branch of the federal government. The evolution came as a result of trial and error, gradual reform, and much controversy. Five presidents participated in the process and each made lasting contributions. The cumulative result of their executive orders, affirmative action, became the basis for later interpretation and refinement, but it represented a benchmark in civil rights."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["One route to affirmative action: executive orders and equal employment opportunities for blacks, 1941-1965"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Olson, James S.","Terry D. Bilhartz","Randy Roberts"],"dc:creator":["Utley, Dan K."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2026-02-19T16:38:10Z"],"dc:date.issued":["1985"],"dc:description.abstract":["The concept of equal employment opportunity began as an effort to open jobs previously denied to blacks. From 1941 to 1965, several factors, including state laws, federal legislation, court decisions, social change, and the actions of civil rights groups, contributed to an expansion of the concept. The result of the evolution was affirmative action, the name applied to the government efforts to end discrimination in employment through implantation of programs designed to enforce compliance and to measure progress and accountability. During this time, five presidents contributed to the development of affirmative action thought he use of equal employment executive orders. The actions of the presidents were not separate from general developments in civil rights; they were often the result of responses to change, tempered by political and moral considerations. President Franklin Roosevelt, responding to pressure from civil rights leaders, issued the first equal employment order in 1941. Designed to open employment in government and in defense industries, it created the Fair Employment Practice Committee. President Harry Truman expanded the concept with the introduction of contract compliance and with the establishment of committees to develop a comprehensive civil rights program and to oversee desegregation of the armed services. The belief in gradual civil rights change and in limited executive action marked the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower. As a result, the focus shifted to a multi-dimensional approach to civil rights. By the end of the 1950’s, the Supreme Court ruled the nation’s schools should be integrated and Congress passed the first major civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. President John Kennedy strengthened the compliance requirements of former equal employment orders and initiated efforts to pass an omnibus civil rights bill. Enacted during the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provided a legal basis for the equal employment executive order process. Johnson completed the process by moving the affirmative action programs into existing departments of the government. It took more than twenty years to formalize the fair employment process in the executive branch of the federal government. The evolution came as a result of trial and error, gradual reform, and much controversy. Five presidents participated in the process and each made lasting contributions. The cumulative result of their executive orders, affirmative action, became the basis for later interpretation and refinement, but it represented a benchmark in civil rights."],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11875/5219"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11875/5219"],"dc:language":["en_US"],"dc:publisher":["Sam Houston State University"],"dc:subject":["Affirmative action programs--United States","Executive orders--United States"],"dc:title":["One route to affirmative action: executive orders and equal employment opportunities for blacks, 1941-1965"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:19:35Z"}