When NASA arrived in Huntsville, Alabama in 1960, it brought new financial opportunities to the city. But for African Americans, the space boom only heightened the disparities of segregation.

Enter John and Joan Cashin in January of 1962. With a small group of like-minded black professionals, they formed the Community Service Committee, which led a mass movement of sit-ins, poster walks and boycotts. The CSC saw the Rocket City's dependence on federal money was a vulnerability they could exploit to integrate the city.

John Cashin called it psychological warfare—and by July of 1962 the CSC's creative tactics paid off. With little of the violence that had met civil rights demonstrations across the state, Huntsville was the first city in Alabama to begin desegregation.

Credits:

Producers

Ben Greenberg

Eric P. Gulliver

Camera/Sound/Edit

Eric P. Gulliver

Advisor

Diane McWhorter

Research

Stephanie Garnier

Music

APM Music

Eric P. Gulliver

Archival Stills

Alabama Department of Archives and History

The Cashin Family

The Hereford Family

Library of Congress

Minority Business Development Agency

NASA

Penn State Rabin Collection

Police Motor Units LLC

Wisconsin Historical Society, WHS-72653

Huntsville Madison County Public Library

Archival Footage

The Hereford Family

Pond 5

Special Thanks

Roy Clem (APTV)

Sonnie Hereford IV

Rocket City Civil Rights

Keith Ward