Zinn Education Project

March 1, 1954: The Green Feather Movement Launched

Five students from Indiana University at Bloomington (IU) started the Green Feather Movement to protest censorship.

Image and caption from Popular Mechanics magazine (March, 1912) succinctly describing how burning coal causes what is now known as the greenhouse effect, and how it may affect future climate.

March 1, 1912: Article Links Coal Burning and Global Temperatures

Francis Molina published an article in New York’s Popular Mechanics on March 1, 1912, which was then republished in New Zealand and other papers around the globe, becoming one of the first news items to directly connect increased coal burning, increased CO2 emissions, and increasing temperatures of the earth.

March 1, 1874: White League Formed

A group of Confederate veterans in Louisiana formed the White League with the goal of using terrorism to undermine Reconstruction.

March 1, 1784: Rhode Island Passes Gradual Emancipation Act

While the state of Rhode Island legally abolished slavery in 1652, it wasn’t until 1784 — after mounting public pressure to do away with the enslavement of other human beings once and for all — that the state passed the Gradual Emancipation Act.

Feb. 29, 2000: “Granny D” Completes Walk for Campaign Finance Reform

“Granny D” Haddock completed a 3200 miles walk from California to Washington, D.C. to call for reform of the U.S. system of campaign finance.

Feb. 28, 1997: Teachers Suspended for Chicano Studies Lessons

Nadine and Patsy Córdova were targets of a white supremacist campaign after teaching ethnic studies through resources like 500 Years of Chicano History and sponsoring the school’s first chapter of MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán).

Clifton Walker (Photo) | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 28, 1964: Clifton Walker Murdered

Korean War veteran Clifton Walker was murdered by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan while on his way home from his late work shift at the International Paper plant in Mississippi.

Feb. 27, 1973: Activists Occupy Wounded Knee

About 250 Sioux Indians, led by members of the American Indian Movement, converged on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation, launching the famous 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee.

Feb. 27, 1967: NAACP Treasurer Wharlest Jackson Murdered in Natchez

Wharlest Jackson (1930–1967), treasurer of the Natchez, Mississippi branch of the NAACP, was assassinated with a car bomb.

Feb. 27, 1960: McKenney Library Sit-in

In attempt to end segregation at the William R. McKenney Central Library in Petersburg, Virginia, a group of African American students held a sit-in.

Feb. 26, 2012: Trayvon Martin Murdered

Trayvon Martin, a Black teenager, was murdered. The death of Martin and acquittal of the man who shot him sparked the national and global Movement for Black Lives.

Feb. 26, 1965: Jimmie Lee Jackson Murdered

Jimmie Lee Jackson was beaten and shot by an Alabama state trooper during a peaceful voting rights march on Feb. 18. He died eight days later.

Feb. 26, 1946: Columbia Uprising

The Columbia Uprising took place in Columbia Tennessee on February 26, 1946, when Black residents collectively defended themselves against rioting police officers and local white supremacist militants.

Feb. 26, 1931: La Placita Raid

Immigration agents raided La Placita Park where they arrested and deported dozens of Mexican Americans.

Feb. 26, 1870: Wyatt Outlaw Murdered

Wyatt Outlaw, a Union veteran who became the first Black town commissioner of Graham, North Carolina, was seized from his home and lynched by members of the Ku Klux Klan known as the White Brotherhood, which controlled the county.

ing Title (This Day in History) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Feb. 25, 1964: Muhammad Ali Won the Heavyweight Boxing Title

In Miami Beach, Florida, Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) won the heavyweight boxing championship title at the age of 22.

Feb. 25, 1941: General Strike in Amsterdam

A general strike was called in Amsterdam to protest Nazi persecution of Jews under the German Nazi occupation.

Feb. 25, 1870: Hiram Revels Sworn into Office

Hiram Revels was sworn into office as senator from Mississippi, becoming the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Feb. 24, 1969: Tinker v. Des Moines Case Wins Free Speech Rights for Students

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Tinker v. Des Moines that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

Feb. 24, 1868: President Andrew Johnson Impeached by House

President Andrew Johnson was impeached by the House of Representatives.

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