1945 Archives

Aug. 16, 1955: Paul Robeson Lost Court Appeal

Paul Robeson lost his court appeal to have the U.S. State Department grant him a passport.

Clara Luper (photo) | Zinn Education Project

Aug. 19, 1958: Katz Drugstore Sit-Ins

Clara Luper and the NAACP Youth Council began sit-ins to desegregate lunch counters.

Aug. 27, 1960: Ax Handle Saturday

White supremacists violently attacked a Jacksonville youth-led lunch counter sit-in.

Mighty Justice (Young Readers’ Edition): The Untold Story of Civil Rights Trailblazer Dovey Johnson Roundtree

Book — Non-fiction. By Katie McCabe and Jabari Asim. 2020. 208 pages.
A young readers' adaptation of Mighty Justice: My Life in Civil Rights, the memoir of activist lawyer Dovey Johnson Roundtree.

Oct. 17, 1950: Empire Zinc Strike

The local chapter of the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers went on strike to protest their segregated housing and unfair wages and living conditions.

Sept. 1, 1956: Clinton Desegregation Crisis

The White Citizens Council and Ku Klux Klan launched full-scale rioting in Clinton, Tennessee in response to school desegregation.

Little Rock Schools | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 12, 1958: Little Rock Public Schools Closed

Governor Orval Faubus closed all Little Rock, Arkansas public schools for one year rather than allow integration.

Sept. 4, 1949: Concert in Peekskill Attacked

Benefit concert for the Civil Rights Congress with Paul Robeson was held in Peekskill, New York.

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks: Young Readers Edition

Book — Non-fiction. By Jeanne Theoharis and Brandy Colbert. 2021.
This biography of Rosa Parks accessibly examines her six decades of activism, challenging young readers’ perceptions of her as an accidental actor in the Civil Rights Movement.

This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality

Book — Non-fiction. By Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy. 2019. 320 pages.
Told from the perspective of Jo Ann Allen, this book tells the story of twelve Black students who integrated Clinton High School in Tennessee in 1956.

‘We Had Set Ourselves Free’: Lessons on the Civil Rights Movement

Teaching Activity. By Doug Sherman. Rethinking Schools. 4 pages.
The author describes how he uses biographies and film to introduce students to the role of people involved in the Civil Rights Movement beyond the familiar heroes. He emphasizes the role and experiences of young people in the Movement.

March 1, 1954: The Green Feather Movement Launched

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

Nov. 13, 1953: Call to Ban Robin Hood in Indiana Schools

Mrs. White of the Indiana Textbook Commission called for a ban of Robin Hood in all school books for promoting communism.

Dr. Charles Gomillion | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 14, 1960: Gomillion v. Lightfoot

SCOTUS ruled 9-0 that redrawing city boundaries in Tuskegee, Alabama to exclude African-American voters violates the 15th Amendment.

Nov. 24, 1947: Hollywood 10 Held in Contempt of Congress

The “Hollywood 10” directors, producers, and writers who refused to testify at HUAC were held in contempt of Congress.

Nov. 27, 1955: Rosa Parks Attends Meeting About Emmett Till

Rosa Parks attended a mass meeting about Emmett Till days before her refusal to give up her seat on the bus.

Oct. 23, 1947: An Appeal to the World

The NAACP sent to the U.N. a document titled “An Appeal to the World,” to redress human rights violations the United States committed against its African-American citizens.

Scandalize My Name: Stories From the Blacklist

Film. Directed by Alexandra Isles. 2000. 60 minutes.
Documentary about the impact of the McCarthy era on African Americans in the film industry.

Subversives: Stories from the Red Scare

Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca.
In this mixer lesson, students meet 27 different targets of government harassment and repression to analyze why disparate individuals might have become targets of the same campaign, determining what kind of threat they posed in the view of the U.S. government.

The Green Feather Movement

Article. By Alison Kysia. 2013.
History of a little-known student resistance movement against McCarthyism and censorship.

Teaching Activity by Alison Kysia

The Rebellious Lives of Mrs. Rosa Parks

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow.
In this mixer lesson, students learn about Rosa Parks' many decades of activism by taking on roles from various times in her life. In this way, students learn about her radicalism before, during, and long after the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Period: 1945

Aug. 16, 1955: Paul Robeson Lost Court Appeal

Aug. 19, 1958: Katz Drugstore Sit-Ins

Aug. 27, 1960: Ax Handle Saturday

Mighty Justice (Young Readers’ Edition): The Untold Story of Civil Rights Trailblazer Dovey Johnson Roundtree

Oct. 17, 1950: Empire Zinc Strike

Sept. 1, 1956: Clinton Desegregation Crisis

Sept. 12, 1958: Little Rock Public Schools Closed

Sept. 4, 1949: Concert in Peekskill Attacked

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks: Young Readers Edition

This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality

‘We Had Set Ourselves Free’: Lessons on the Civil Rights Movement

March 1, 1954: The Green Feather Movement Launched

Nov. 13, 1953: Call to Ban Robin Hood in Indiana Schools

Nov. 14, 1960: Gomillion v. Lightfoot

Nov. 24, 1947: Hollywood 10 Held in Contempt of Congress

Nov. 27, 1955: Rosa Parks Attends Meeting About Emmett Till

Oct. 23, 1947: An Appeal to the World

Scandalize My Name: Stories From the Blacklist

The Green Feather Movement

The Rebellious Lives of Mrs. Rosa Parks

The Struggle Against the Prison Industrial Complex

Dec. 1, 1955: Rosa Parks Refuses to Give Up Her Seat

Dec. 28, 1960: Black Farmers in Tennessee Evicted for Registering to Vote

Dec. 5, 1955: Montgomery Bus Boycott Began

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