In 1963, Louisiana state troopers hunted him door to door for trying to organize protests.
A funeral home director had Farmer play dead in the back of a hearse that carried him along back roads and out of town.
He was arrested that August for disturbing the peace.

As the Director of CORE, Farmer was considered one of the "Big Six" of the Civil Rights Movement who helped organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. (
The press also used the term "Big Four", ignoring John Lewis and Dorothy Height.)

Growing disenchanted with emerging militancy and black nationalist sentiments in CORE, Farmer resigned as director in 1966.
By that time, Congress had passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ending segregation, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, authorizing federal enforcement of registration and elections.

Farmer took a teaching position at Lincoln University, a historically black college (HBCU) near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He also lectured around the country.
In 1968, Farmer ran for U.S. Congress as a Liberal Party candidate backed by the Republican Party, but lost to Shirley Chisholm.

In 1969, the newly elected Republican President Richard Nixon offered Farmer the position of Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (now Health and Human Services).
The next year, frustrated by the Washington bureaucracy, Farmer resigned from the position.

Farmer retired from politics in 1971 but remained active, lecturing and serving on various boards and committees.
He was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II in 1973.
In 1975, he co-founded Fund for an Open Society.
Its vision is a nation in which people live in stably integrated communities, where political and civic power is shared by people of different races and ethnicities.
He led this organization until 1999.

Farmer was named an honorary vice chairman of the Democratic Socialists of America.

He published his autobiography Lay Bare the Heart in 1985.
In 1984, Farmer began teaching at Mary Washington College (now The University of Mary Washington) in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Farmer retired from his teaching position in 1998.
He died on July 9, 1999, of complications from diabetes in Fredericksburg, Virginia at the age of 79.
In 1963, Louisiana state troopers hunted him door to door for trying to organize protests. A funeral home director had Farmer play dead in the back of a hearse that carried him along back roads and out of town. He was arrested that August for disturbing the peace.
As the Director of CORE, Farmer was considered one of the "Big Six" of the Civil Rights Movement who helped organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. (The press also used the term "Big Four", ignoring John Lewis and Dorothy Height.)
Growing disenchanted with emerging militancy and black nationalist sentiments in CORE, Farmer resigned as director in 1966. By that time, Congress had passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ending segregation, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, authorizing federal enforcement of registration and elections.
Farmer took a teaching position at Lincoln University, a historically black college (HBCU) near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also lectured around the country. In 1968, Farmer ran for U.S. Congress as a Liberal Party candidate backed by the Republican Party, but lost to Shirley Chisholm.
In 1969, the newly elected Republican President Richard Nixon offered Farmer the position of Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (now Health and Human Services). The next year, frustrated by the Washington bureaucracy, Farmer resigned from the position.
Farmer retired from politics in 1971 but remained active, lecturing and serving on various boards and committees. He was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II in 1973. In 1975, he co-founded Fund for an Open Society. Its vision is a nation in which people live in stably integrated communities, where political and civic power is shared by people of different races and ethnicities. He led this organization until 1999.
Farmer was named an honorary vice chairman of the Democratic Socialists of America.
He published his autobiography Lay Bare the Heart in 1985. In 1984, Farmer began teaching at Mary Washington College (now The University of Mary Washington) in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Farmer retired from his teaching position in 1998. He died on July 9, 1999, of complications from diabetes in Fredericksburg, Virginia at the age of 79.
James Farmer