1965 LBJ White House Dinner Menu – Selma, Martin Luther King & Voting Rights

Original White House dinner menu dated March 13, 1965, an important date during one of the defining episodes of Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency and the American Civil Rights Movement.

Elegantly produced with the raised gold embossed Seal of the President of the United States at the top and traditional gilt edging, the menu lists Cold Baby Lobster White House, Filet of Beef California, Potatoes Empire, Bibb Salad, Gourmandise Cheese and Meringue Park, accompanied by California wines.

The historical significance of the date is particularly compelling. Earlier that day, President Johnson met Alabama Governor George Wallace in the Oval Office amid the national crisis following the March 7 “Bloody Sunday” attack on voting-rights marchers in Selma. Johnson pressed Wallace concerning voting rights and the protection of demonstrators. Meanwhile, approximately 1,500 civil-rights demonstrators gathered across from the White House in Lafayette Park. Later that afternoon, Johnson announced that he would send voting-rights legislation to Congress.

The menu is dated just two days before Johnson’s historic March 15 address to Congress, delivered in response to the Selma crisis and the voting-rights campaign led by Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil-rights leaders. In a dramatic embrace of the movement’s own anthem, Johnson declared, “And we shall overcome,” while urging Congress to enact sweeping federal voting-rights legislation.

The events surrounding Selma helped propel the legislation that became the Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by Johnson on August 6.

An unusual piece of LBJ White House ephemera bearing a date directly associated with the Selma voting-rights crisis and a pivotal weekend in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement.

From the collection of a former White House staff member.