1945 Archives

Chávez Ravine: A Record by Ry Cooder

Songs. By Ry Cooder. 2005. 70 minutes.
The story of the Chicano community bulldozed to pave the way for the Dodger Stadium in Santa Monica, told through bilingual songs.

Citizenship Schools: They Say I’m Your Teacher

Film. Directed by Lucy Massie Phenix and Catherine Murphy. 2019. 9 minutes.
Documentary about Citizenship Schools.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

Book — Non-fiction. By Phillip Hoose. 2010. 160 pages.
The story of Claudette Colvin, a teenager who refused to give up her seat in the year leading up to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Counter Histories

Digital Collection. Produced by John T. Edge and the Southern Foodways Alliance; directed by Kate Medley.
Five short films that document the civil disobedience staged at segregated lunch counters in the 1950s and 60s.

Daybreak of Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Stewart Burns 1997. 392 pages.
A documentary history of the Montgomery bus boycott that reverberates with the voices of those closest to the boycott.

Dec. 17, 1951: “We Charge Genocide” Petition Submitted to United Nations

Paul Robeson and William Patterson submitted a petition from the Civil Rights Congress (CRC) to the United Nations, signed by almost 100 U.S. intellectuals and activists.

Montgomery Boycott Ends | Zinn Education Project

Dec. 20, 1956: Montgomery Bus Boycott Prevails

After a 381-day boycott, a federal ruling declared the Alabama laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional.

Dec. 25, 1951: Murder of Harriette and Harry Moore in Florida

The Ku Klux Klan bombed the home of labor and voting rights activists Harry T. Moore and Harriette Moore — killing them both. Harriette Moore taught elementary school, secretly teaching her students Black history in the face of bans by the state superintendent.

Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision

Book — Non-fiction. By Barbara Ransby. 2024 (Second Edition). 512 pages.
This biography chronicles Baker's long and rich political career as an organizer, an intellectual, and a teacher, from her early experiences in depression-era Harlem to the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Eslanda: The Large and Unconventional Life of Mrs. Paul Robeson

Book — Non-fiction. By Barbara Ransby. 2013. 373 pages.
This biography of cosmopolitan anthropologist Eslanda Cardozo Goode Robeson explores her influence on her husband's early career, their open marriage, and her life as a prolific journalist, a tireless advocate of women's rights, and an outspoken anti-colonial and antiracist activist.

Feb. 1, 1960: The Greensboro Sit-in Begins

Four African-American North Carolina A&T University students began a sit-in protest at a Woolworth’s whites-only lunch counter.

Feb. 18, 1946: Courts Ruled in Favor of the Mendez Family

The courts ruled in favor of the Mendez family and their co-plaintiffs in California, finding segregated schools to be unconstitutional.

Feb. 2 and 5, 1951: Virginia Executes the Martinsville Seven

In 1951, the Commonwealth of Virginia executed seven Black men despite a national campaign in their defense.

CORE Members Woolowrth's Sit-in (photo) | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 20, 1960: Patricia Stephens Due Called for “Jail, No Bail”

Patricia Stephens Due refused to pay bail after being arrested for a sit-in in Florida.

Feb. 8, 1946: WWII Veteran Timothy Hood Killed

Timothy Hood, a veteran of the U.S. Marines, was killed for removing a Jim Crow sign.

McCarthy State Dep't | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 9, 1950: Sen. Joseph McCarthy Announces “Enemies Within”

Senator Joseph McCarthy delivered a speech at the McLure Hotel during which he claimed to hold a list of known communists in the U.S. State Department.

Fred Ross

Profile. By Gabriel Thompson. 2013.
Introduction to little-known but influential labor organizer Fred Ross (1910-1992), who trained many activists of note including Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez.

Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Book — Non-fiction. By Russell Freedman. 2006. 114 pages.
Written for middle school, the grassroots history of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Haiku and Hiroshima: Teaching About the Atomic Bomb

Teaching Activity. By Wayne Au. Rethinking Schools. 3 pages.
Lesson for high school students on the bombing of Hiroshima using the film Barefoot Gen and haiku.