1920 Archives

Jackie Robinson | Zinn Education Project

July 6, 1944: Lt. Jackie Robinson Refuses to Give Up Seat on Bus

While stationed at Camp Hood in Texas, Lieutenant Jackie Robinson refused to give up his seat on the bus and was court-martialed.

May 30, 1937: Memorial Day Massacre

The Chicago Police Department shot and killed ten unarmed demonstrators in Chicago on Memorial Day.

Helen Keller letter to German students. Click image for source page with transcription.

May 9, 1933: Helen Keller Writes to German Students

Helen Keller wrote a letter to the students who planned on burning all books deemed “un-German.”

Huey Newton surrounded by youth of East Oakland community, August 1970.

Feb. 17, 1942: Huey P. Newton Born

Huey P. Newton was co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.

Jan. 26, 1944: Angela Davis Born

Born on this day, Angela Davis is a civil rights activist, writer, professor, and a founding member Critical Resistance, a national organization dedicated to the dismantling of the prison industrial complex.

Bombing of Guernica | Zinn Education Project

April 26, 1937: The Bombing of Guernica

During the Spanish Civil War, the Nazis tested their new air force on the Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain.

Charles Spurgeon Rucks | Zinn Education Project

Dec. 29, 1923: Terror Attack on African Americans in Catcher, Arkansas

The Catcher “Race Riot” began in Arkansas, leading to the creation of another sundown town.

Dec. 27, 1937: Harriet Elizabeth Brown Case Settled

Harriet Elizabeth Brown, a teacher from Maryland, sued for equal pay for Black teachers and won the case.

Jeanette Rankin. Portrait by Robert Shetterly of Americans Who Tell the Truth.

Dec. 8, 1941: Jeannette Rankin Voted Against WWII

Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin was the only member of Congress to vote against declaring war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Jan. 18, 1943: Jewish Resistance in Warsaw Ghetto

Jews in the Warsaw ghetto organized armed self-defense units to oppose deportations to forced-labor camps and to the Treblinka extermination camp.

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. 13, 1937: Founding of Southern Negro Youth Congress

The first Southern Negro Youth Conference (SNYC) conference was held in Richmond, Virginia.

Jan. 1, 1923: Rosewood Massacre

White supremacists destroyed the Black town of Rosewood, Florida, and murdered many of its residents. Descendants have fought for reparations and recognition of the history.

Oct. 10, 1942: Petition from Aleut Women

Aleut women from the Pribilof Islands Program wrote a petition about the dangerous internment camp conditions during World War II.

May 31, 1921: Tulsa Massacre

In one of countless white supremacist massacres in U.S. history, white supremacists destroyed a thriving Black community in Oklahoma, known today as the Tulsa Massacre.

Frannces Perkins | Zinn Education Project

March 4, 1933: Frances Perkins First Woman to Serve in U.S. Cabinet

Frances Perkins became Secretary of Labor, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet.

March 15, 1942: Norwegian Teachers Resist Nazi Curriculum

More than 1,300 Norwegian teachers were arrested by the German Nazi-installed government.

March 25, 1931: Scottsboro Nine

Nine young African Americans were falsely charged with rape and collectively served more than 100 years in prison.

March 31, 1944: Frank S. Emi Interrogated

Frank S. Emi protested the draft during Japanese American incarceration and was interrogated.

April 21, 1937: Congressman Ordered to Jim Crow Section of Train

Illinois congressman Arthur W. Mitchell was ordered to move to the Jim Crow car of the train once it entered Arkansas.

April 19, 1943: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Began

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began, on the eve of Passover, when Nazi forces attempted to clear out the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland, to send them to concentration camps.

Martha Lum's class photo | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 21, 1927: Lum v. Rice Supreme Court Ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, in the case of nine-year old Chinese-American Martha Lum, her exclusion on account of race from school was justified.