In Pursuit: Philadelphia and the Making of America

Episode 8 Overview: Revolution (1963-1967)

Is a third founding possible? Civil rights leaders press the Kennedy administration on longstanding demands for jobs, schools, housing, and justice — and in Philadelphia, the fight takes on a fierce, local urgency.

Attorney and former Marine Cecil B. Moore demands that federally funded job sites open to Black workers, a push that evolves into the Philadelphia Plan for affirmative action. Reverend Leon Sullivan organizes boycotts of companies refusing to hire Black workers. Moore then sets his sights on Girard College — a school for white orphan boys surrounded by Black residents — leading daily protests and ultimately inviting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to join the cause. A judge orders the school to integrate.

Meanwhile, gay and lesbian Philadelphians adopt civil rights tactics to demand recognition and full rights of their own, with a landmark protest at Independence Hall on July 4, 1965.

In North Philadelphia, rumors of police brutality against a pregnant Black woman ignite a violent uprising — the first in what becomes a nationwide wave of rebellions by Black residents pushed to their limits. Rising through the ranks, Deputy Frank Rizzo positions himself as the hard-line answer to unrest.

In 1967, student organizers — backed by Moore — push the Philadelphia School District to treat Black students equally and teach honest Black history. A student strike produces real demands, and negotiations inch toward progress. Then Police Commissioner Rizzo orders officers in, beating and arresting dozens of students and cementing himself as the city's self-declared enforcer of "law and order."

Revolution, it turns out, doesn't come easy.