June 1964 events in the United States

On June 21, 1964, three Civil Rights Movement activists, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, were murdered by local members of the Ku Klux Klan. They had been arrested earlier in the day for speeding, and after being released were followed by local law enforcement & others, all affiliated with the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. After following the three for some time, they were abducted by the group, brought to a secluded location, and shot. They were then buried in an earthen dam. All three were associated with the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and its member organization, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). They had been working with the Freedom Summer campaign by attempting to register African Americans in Mississippi to vote. Since 1890 and through the turn of the century, Southern states had systematically disenfranchised most black voters by discrimination in voter registration and voting.

The 18th Annual Tony Awards took place on May 24, 1964, in the New York Hilton in New York City. The ceremony was broadcast on local television station WWOR-TV (Channel 9) in New York City. The host was Sidney Blackmer and the Masters of Ceremonies were Steve Lawrence and Robert Preston.

The 1964 Monson Motor Lodge protest was part of a series of events during the civil rights movement in the United States which occurred on June 18, 1964, at the Monson Motor Lodge in St. Augustine, Florida. The campaign between June and July 1964 was led by Robert Hayling, Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Andrew Young, Hosea Williams, C. T. Vivian and Fred Shuttlesworth, among others. St. Augustine was chosen to be the next battleground against racial segregation on account of it being both highly racist yet also relying heavily on the northern tourism dollar. Furthermore, the city was due to celebrate its 400th anniversary the following year, which would heighten the campaign's profile even more. Nightly marches to the slave market were organized; marchers were regularly attacked and beaten.

The 37th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C. at the Mayflower Hotel, on June 3–4, 1964, sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Company.

Bloody Tuesday was a march that occurred on June 9, 1964, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, during the Civil Rights Movement. The march was both organized and led by Rev. T. Y. Rogers and was to protest against segregated drinking fountains and restrooms in the county courthouse. The protest consisted of a group of peaceful African Americans walking from The First African Baptist Church to the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse; however, protesters did not get very far before being beaten, arrested, and tear gassed by not only police officers standing outside the church, but a mob of angry white citizens as well.