the Commission on Civil Rights and the president of what became Michigan State University were collecting data and reporting on the conditions of Jim Crow just as my dad and Bubba Smith were emerging from its soil. In his tenure as chairperson, Hannah played a key role in the hearings that led to major legislation and court cases, including the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
