1945 Archives

May 7, 1954: Viet Minh Victory

The Viet Minh scored their final victory over the French at Dien Bien Phu.

May 8, 1959: Mexican American Communities Evicted

Palo Verde, La Loma, and Bishop were close-knit Mexican American communities that were destroyed in the 1950s to make way for Dodger Stadium.

Medgar Evers

Profile. By Dernoral Davis.
Medgar Evers (July 2, 1925—June 12, 1963), Civil Rights Movement activist in Mississippi.

Memphis Martin and the Mountaintop 9781629797182 (Book Cover) | Zinn Education Project

Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968

Picture book. By Alice Faye Duncan. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. 2018. 40 pages.
A historical fiction picture book that presents the story of nine-year-old Lorraine Jackson, who in 1968 witnessed the Memphis sanitation strike.

Mendez v. Westminster: School Desegregation and Mexican-American Rights

Book — Non-fiction. By Philippa Strum. 2010. 186 pages.
Description of a pre-Brown v. Board desegregation court case involving Mexican-American families.

Mississippi Trial, 1955

Book — Fiction. By Chris Crowe. 2003. 240 pages.
Historical fiction about the murder of Emmett Till for high school students.

Nuclear Savage: The Islands of Secret Project 4.1

Film. By Adam Jonas Horowitz. 2012. 60 and 87 minutes.
History of the U.S. government's testing of nuclear weapons and fallout on the people of the Marshall Islands.

John Earl Reese | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 22, 1955: John Earl Reese Murdered

In an effort to stop the implementation of Brown v. Board through terrorism, 16-yr-old John Earl Reese was killed in Mayflower, Texas.

Harry Belafonte | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 25, 1958: Youth March for Integrated Schools

A. Philip Randolph, Jackie Robinson, Coretta Scott King, Harry Belafonte, Bayard Rustin, and more led a Youth March for Integrated Schools in Washington, D.C.

Newspaper headline reading "2 More Join List Of Miss. Victims"

Oct. 30, 1959: Luther Jackson Murdered

Luther Jackson was murdered by Philadelphia, Mississippi policeman Lawrence Rainey.

Our Grandparents’ Civil Rights Era: Family Letters Bring History to Life

Teaching Activity. By Willow McCormick. Rethinking Schools. 7 pages.
An elementary school teacher connects the Civil Rights Movement to students’ family history by asking their grandparents to share their memories of the Movement.

Pies from Nowhere (Book Cover) | Zinn Education Project

Pies from Nowhere: How Georgia Gilmore Sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Picture book. By Dee Romito. Illustrated by Laura Freeman. 2018. 40 pages.
The story of Georgia Gilmore and the Club from Nowhere, a grassroots project to provide food and funds for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South

Book — Non-fiction (with CD). Edited by William H. Chafe, Raymond Gavins and Robert Korstad. 2008. 346 pages.
Extensive oral history of African American life under segregation.

Rethinking the Vietnam War | Zinn Education Project

Rethinking the Teaching of the Vietnam War

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 8 pages.
A role play on the history of the Vietnam War that is left out of traditional textbooks.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Rethinking What We Know About the Vietnam War

Teaching Activity. Zinn Education Project. 21 pages.
Two lessons to introduce key facts about the Vietnam War and the Pentagon Papers, documents that provide essential history that is often ignored by textbooks.

Ruth and the Green Book

Picture book. By Calvin Alexander Ramsey with Gwen Strauss. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. 2010. 32 pages.
Story for young readers about an African American family travelling during the Jim Crow era and the networks of support and services listed in The Green Book.

Salt of the Earth: Grounds Students in Hope

Teaching Activity. By S. J. Childs. Rethinking Schools. 6 pages.
The author describes how she introduces students to the classic 1953 film, Salt of the Earth, about a miners’ strike in New Mexico.

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation

Picture book. By Duncan Tonatiuh. 2014. 40 pages.
Upper elementary school picture-book about the Mendez v. Westminster case to desegregate California schools.

Separate No More: The Long Road to Brown v. Board of Education

Book — Non-fiction. By Lawrence Goldstone. 2021.
A portrait of the road to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case.

Sept. 2, 1945: Vietnam Declared Independence from France

Ho Chi Minh declared the independence of Vietnam from France.

Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for Equality

Book — Non-fiction. By Richard Kluger. 2004. 880 pages.
One of the first texts, now a classic, on Brown v. Board of Education.

Teaching Activity by Richard Kluger

Stealing Home: Eminent Domain, Urban Renewal, and the Loss of Community

Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools. 9 pages.
Teaching about patterns of displacement and wealth inequality through the history of Palo Verde, La Loma, and Bishop communities and the building of Dodger Stadium.

Teaching Activity by Linda Christensen

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