On what date did President Lyndon B. Johnson sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2, 1964, at a White House ceremony. The landmark law addressed discrimination and segregation in several areas of American public life.

The act prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin in employment and public accommodations, among other provisions. It also strengthened the federal government’s ability to challenge segregation in schools and discrimination in federally assisted programs. The legislation followed years of activism, organizing, litigation, and pressure from the civil rights movement.

The bill passed the House of Representatives in February 1964 and the Senate in June after a 72-day filibuster. After the House accepted a Senate amendment, the final measure reached Johnson’s desk. The act was one of the most important federal civil rights laws since Reconstruction and became a foundation for later equality legislation.