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Lay Bare the Heart: An Autobiography of the Civil Rights Movement
Texas native James Farmer is one of the “Big Four” of the turbulent 1960s civil rights movement, along with Martin Luther King Jr., Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young. Farmer might be called the forgotten man of the movement, overshadowed by Martin Luther King Jr., who was deeply influenced by Farmer’s interpretation of Gandhi’s concept of nonviolent protest.
Born in Marshall, Texas, in 1920, the son of a preacher, Farmer grew up with segregated movie theaters and “White Only” drinking fountains. This background impelled him to found the Congress of Racial Equality in 1942. That same year he mobilized the first sit-in in an all-white restaurant near the University of Chicago. Under Farmer’s direction, CORE set the pattern for the civil rights movement by peaceful protests which eventually led to the dramatic “Freedom Rides” of the 1960s.
In Lay Bare the Heart Farmer tells the story of the heroic civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. This moving and unsparing personal account captures both the inspiring strengths and human weaknesses of a movement beset by rivalries, conflicts and betrayals. Farmer recalls meetings with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Adlai Stevenson (for whom he had great respect), and Lyndon Johnson (who, according to Farmer, used Adam Clayton Powell Jr., to thwart a major phase of the movement).
James Farmer has courageously worked for dignity for all people in the United States. In this book, he tells his story with forthright honesty.
First published in 1985 by Arbor House, this edition contains a new foreword by Don Carleton, director of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin, and a new preface.
Born in Marshall, Texas, in 1920, the son of a preacher, Farmer grew up with segregated movie theaters and “White Only” drinking fountains. This background impelled him to found the Congress of Racial Equality in 1942. That same year he mobilized the first sit-in in an all-white restaurant near the University of Chicago. Under Farmer’s direction, CORE set the pattern for the civil rights movement by peaceful protests which eventually led to the dramatic “Freedom Rides” of the 1960s.
In Lay Bare the Heart Farmer tells the story of the heroic civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. This moving and unsparing personal account captures both the inspiring strengths and human weaknesses of a movement beset by rivalries, conflicts and betrayals. Farmer recalls meetings with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Adlai Stevenson (for whom he had great respect), and Lyndon Johnson (who, according to Farmer, used Adam Clayton Powell Jr., to thwart a major phase of the movement).
James Farmer has courageously worked for dignity for all people in the United States. In this book, he tells his story with forthright honesty.
First published in 1985 by Arbor House, this edition contains a new foreword by Don Carleton, director of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin, and a new preface.
370 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 28, 2020
It was my great privilege to a take a class taught by James Farmer at Mary Washington College in 1998, so I was thrilled to finally get around to reading his autobiography. It was well-told and enjoyable, but it's claim to be an autobiography of the civil rights movement is a bit bold. We don't even get to the Civil Rights movement until half-way through the book, but his upbringing and coming of age are not uninteresting. It gets downright fascinating though once he's leading a national movement and organizing with MLK and others. I didn't know Marion Berry was the first chairman of SNCC. It was particularly harrowing to see the lengths that people will go to in order to maintain their illusion of superiority. The state of Mississippi marshaled ever resource it had and fought a bitter legal and extra-legal battle...just to tell people where to sit on a bus. State Police in Louisiana burned black churches.
When I took Farmer's class on the history of the Civil Rights movement, my notes were abstract, impressionistic, occasionally just stunning turn-of-phrases, and I was delighted to see some of them show up in the book and trigger memories: "out there in the pitiless glare of the sun" was my favorite.
He writes with great balance and seeming sincerity. He comes out looking pretty good in this autobiography, but there were gaps that raised important questions. One minute he's preacher's son studying for seminary and the next he's getting married in a humanist ceremony with no mention of God; the transition is never addressed. He acknowledges his blindness and losing the eye to disease, but doesn't mention the severe diabetes it was attributed to, which ultimately cost him his legs too. Still, it ends well, with some semi-modest appreciation for the impressive social and political gains outlined in the last quarter of the book. He doesn't get along very well with JFK, accomplishes much more with RFK, and ultimately goes to work for the Nixon administration, which goes about as well as anyone would expect. He says he "paved the road on which America's black children walk toward new vistas that I shared in shaping" and I am not going to argue with that. It's not just the Freedom Rides either: the successfully desegregating busing lead to media, money, and more action, including more desegregation and literacy and voter registration programs. The fact that he fought and won against violent, entrenched forces exclusively through non-violence should be eternally appreciated.
When I took Farmer's class on the history of the Civil Rights movement, my notes were abstract, impressionistic, occasionally just stunning turn-of-phrases, and I was delighted to see some of them show up in the book and trigger memories: "out there in the pitiless glare of the sun" was my favorite.
He writes with great balance and seeming sincerity. He comes out looking pretty good in this autobiography, but there were gaps that raised important questions. One minute he's preacher's son studying for seminary and the next he's getting married in a humanist ceremony with no mention of God; the transition is never addressed. He acknowledges his blindness and losing the eye to disease, but doesn't mention the severe diabetes it was attributed to, which ultimately cost him his legs too. Still, it ends well, with some semi-modest appreciation for the impressive social and political gains outlined in the last quarter of the book. He doesn't get along very well with JFK, accomplishes much more with RFK, and ultimately goes to work for the Nixon administration, which goes about as well as anyone would expect. He says he "paved the road on which America's black children walk toward new vistas that I shared in shaping" and I am not going to argue with that. It's not just the Freedom Rides either: the successfully desegregating busing lead to media, money, and more action, including more desegregation and literacy and voter registration programs. The fact that he fought and won against violent, entrenched forces exclusively through non-violence should be eternally appreciated.
February 5, 2013
This book is an essential on the Civil Rights movement. Mr. Farmer was involved in this movement prior to World War II. He was living in Chicago trying to integrate restaurants, skating arcades and the like. It was a constant struggle, it was draining, and it was certainly not lucrative. The people involved in this work for racial equality needed dedication and resilience in abundance.
Mr. Farmer met a wide variety of people from Eleanor Roosevelt, Malcolm X, A.J. Muste, and Presidents – and he provides us with keen observations on these individuals.
The influence of Gandhi on Mr. Farmer is evident from the beginnings of his involvement in Civil Rights work. He always ensured that individuals in CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) were not hot-heads who could deliberately trigger white retaliation. This would have caused more problems, particularly in the Deep South where the white power structure was firmly entrenched. There were times however, when CORE and Mr. Farmer were in imminent danger of being lynched, and had to use the help or aid of the black community who did possess firearms.
This book is strong in all aspects – during his early childhood in Texas he had to “learn” to drink at the coloured water fountain. His constant preoccupation with “the movement” took a toll on his personal life – he acknowledges not being an effective parent to his two daughters and that it was his wife, Lulu, who was primarily responsible for their good upbringing.
There were times when I felt that Mr. Farmer overlooks the role other individuals (like John Lewis) and groups (SNCC) had in the spreading of the great cause of racial equality. For instance SNCC had a significant role in Mississippi, but does not get due credit. Nevertheless this is a tremendous personal account of this dynamic period in American history.
Mr. Farmer met a wide variety of people from Eleanor Roosevelt, Malcolm X, A.J. Muste, and Presidents – and he provides us with keen observations on these individuals.
The influence of Gandhi on Mr. Farmer is evident from the beginnings of his involvement in Civil Rights work. He always ensured that individuals in CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) were not hot-heads who could deliberately trigger white retaliation. This would have caused more problems, particularly in the Deep South where the white power structure was firmly entrenched. There were times however, when CORE and Mr. Farmer were in imminent danger of being lynched, and had to use the help or aid of the black community who did possess firearms.
This book is strong in all aspects – during his early childhood in Texas he had to “learn” to drink at the coloured water fountain. His constant preoccupation with “the movement” took a toll on his personal life – he acknowledges not being an effective parent to his two daughters and that it was his wife, Lulu, who was primarily responsible for their good upbringing.
There were times when I felt that Mr. Farmer overlooks the role other individuals (like John Lewis) and groups (SNCC) had in the spreading of the great cause of racial equality. For instance SNCC had a significant role in Mississippi, but does not get due credit. Nevertheless this is a tremendous personal account of this dynamic period in American history.
June 25, 2008
I've been attempting to fill in some gaps in my education and understanding in a personal quest to understand and be more compassionate of others. As a family, we were watching the movie "THe Great Debaters", which led me to interest in James Farmer (the young kid on the debate team). Lay Bear the Heart is his autobiography, and with it, the history of the civil rights movement in America. Farmer was a brilliant, highly educated, extraordinarily brave, devout Christian man. This is an important book for all Americans, especially white Americans.
April 26, 2008
Dr. Farmer was one of my favorite professors in college--such an amazing man with the most powerful stories to tell. This book will always have a special place on my shelves.
November 6, 2018
Why did I never hear of this man before? I was a kid during the 60’s and very aware of my dad’s close attention to and support of the Civil Rights Movement. I saw and loved the movie “The Great Debaters” some years ago, but either forgot or never realized that the young protagonist went on to become a major leader in the fight to end segregation... and so much more. James Farmer should be in our history books right up there with Martin Luther King, Jr. Although his beliefs and methods were entirely different from Malcolm X, his name should be as well-known. Perhaps the reprinting of this 1985 memoir will help do that. It is a fascinating, moving, disturbing and beautifully written book. Farmer doesn’t hold back, but lays bare his imperfections as well as his greatness, his fears and his courage, his soul-searching struggles to figure out how to best accomplish what he knows to be right. We all know something of the Freedom Riders, well he is the one who helped create them, and coined the phrase. Reading his autobiography is catching a glimpse of the turmoil and the magnificence of the fight against segregation from within. You see how the sit-ins started. You see how what he was doing affected his family. You see some of the politics that went on behind the scenes, within organizations such as CORE and the NAACP, and with the Washington politicians they were dealing with. There’s plenty of philosophying which gets you thinking about difficult issues, and it’s peppered with amusing anecdotes that keep it thoroughly human. I would have loved to meet this man. He truly was one in a million and how he lived his life had a positive impact on all of us.
December 27, 2025
I had the good fortune to interview Dr. Farmer for a 20th century history assignment in college, 1980s. He had moved to my hometown and was an associate professor at MWC. We became fast friends and my college roommates all had to meet him, spend time with him, too. I read his book before the interview and could not believe I would actually be sitting down with this giant. I’m sure some of my questions were naive and light because of the small lens I saw the world through at that time. Dr. Farmer opened my eyes to the truth of the civil rights movement and its heroes, good and bad; a better understanding of true heroism and standing up for what is right - no matter what. He was very tall, and had such a warm presence and deep laugh. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the civil rights movement in the United States for several decades - not just the 1960s.
September 15, 2020
Interesting look at the Civil Rights movement and the behind the scenes struggles as well as differences. Especially in light of today's protests against racism and the raised awareness of the systemic racism in many of our institutions. Many of the arguments today were made to Farmer.
September 27, 2024
This is a must read for any history lovers or students of history. James Farmer brings the Civil Rights movement to life with a perspective more human than any book I have read.
September 22, 2012
This is one of the autobiographies that reveals more than the author would like I think, and I didn't especially like James Farmer a great deal. Much as I admire the Congress of Racial Equality and the Freedom Rides and some of the stands Farmer took along with those he worked with. I found it a bit sanctimonious and prudish and self-serving, in addition to the fact that he seemed to really buy into the virulent anti-communism sponsored by HUAC and others. So when he talks about how the movement developed and the roles played by people such as A.J. Muste and Bayard Rustin and A. Phillip Randolph, it was impossible to judge how much his point of view differed from what my own would have been. Especially as there are a lot of unpleasant little digs in here, at all those listed above and others in the civil rights movement like Martin Luther King. I won't start on his relationship with his first wife. But it is fascinating how such a man ended up in Southern jails, often spoke somehow for the more militant side of the non-violent movement (though he seemed to be a brakeman unless radicalism served his ambition, though I could be wronging him. The decision to go forward with the freedom rides was a courageous one, the decision to go against the Kennedys another. I am curious to know how much they were really his). So it's hard to how much you can take from this about the movement itself, as it seems principally to reflect the strengths and weaknesses of its author.
December 20, 2016
I recently reread this book. I had James Farmer as a professor in college and his lectures were much more lively than the book. He would start singing. He was quite a story teller and a great resource on the civil rights era. The book is pretty much his whole life story which is fascinating.
April 23, 2013
James Farmer was one of the most impressive human beings I have ever had the privilege to know, even a little. This volume presents his vision and his courage, as well as his fears and doubts.
Because when I had class with him, he was blind from years of teargas, to sign my copy, I placed his hand on the book.
Because when I had class with him, he was blind from years of teargas, to sign my copy, I placed his hand on the book.
November 16, 2009
For all I've read about the Civil Rights Movement, I didn't really know anything about James Farmer or CORE. Not only did this book fill in a lot of gaps for me historically, it's an extremely well written piece of literature.
July 29, 2015
One of my professors participated in the freedom rides, listening to him talk made me hunt down this book. A wonderful read, a valuable lesson in humanism and non-violence.
May 8, 2015
Interesting, but the guy is just too taken up by himself.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews