John A. Hannah, the president of MSC, was appointed by president Dwight D. Eisenhower to the role of chairperson of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights from 1958 to 1969. The Commission on Civil Rights was created by the federal government as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which sought to provide a continual appraisal of the status of civil rights in the United States, mainly investigating, documenting, and making recommendations.
