Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932-1968

In 1948, a group of conservative white southerners formed the States'' Rights Democratic Party, soon nicknamed the "Dixiecrats," and chose Strom Thurmond as their presidential candidate. Thrown on the defensive by federal civil rights initiatives and unprecedented grassroots political activity by African Americans, the Dixiecrats aimed to reclaim conservatives'' former preeminent position within t...