May 12, 1968: The Poor People’s Campaign Began
The Poor People’s Campaign was a multiracial effort to gain economic justice for poor people.
Continue reading
Period: 1961
People’s Movement: 1961 – 1974
May 17, 1968: Catonsville Nine Burn Draft Records
Nine people entered the Selective Service Offices, removed and burned draft records, and were collectively arrested in protest of the Vietnam War — they became known as the Catonsville Nine.
Continue reading
May 20, 1963: Medgar Evers Speech on WLBT
Medgar Evers made a 17-minute speech on WLBT in a rare and historic exception to the white supremacist only voice on Mississippi radio and television.
Continue reading
June 6, 1966: James Meredith and the March Against Fear
Air Force veteran James Meredith began the March Against Fear from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi.
Continue reading
June 8, 1961: Freedom Riders Arrested
Freedom Riders traveling from New Orleans, Louisiana to Jackson, Mississippi were arrested in 1961.
Continue reading
June 11, 1962: Students for a Democratic Society Issue Port Huron Statement
Students for a Democratic Society held its founding convention in Michigan and issued the Port Huron Statement.
Continue reading
June 10, 1966: Ben Chester White Murdered
Ben Chester White, caretaker on a farm, was brutally murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Natchez, Mississippi.
Continue reading
June 11, 1965: Chicago School Boycott
More than 100,000 students stayed out of school to protest inequality and segregation in Chicago, Illinois.
Continue reading
June 12, 1967: Loving Day
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mildred and Richard Loving in the historic Loving v. Virginia case.
Continue reading
June 18, 1964: St. Augustine Swim-In
Black and white protesters attempted to desegregate a pool in St. Augustine, Florida. The owner dumped acid into the protester-filled pool in an attempt to force them to leave. Police officers eventually dragged protesters out of the pool and took them to jail.
Continue reading
June 23, 1968: The Poor People’s Campaign Ended
The permit for the Poor People’s Campaign expired, ending the month long encampment.
Continue reading
June 28, 1969: Stonewall Riots
Police arrived at the Stonewall Inn and arrested anyone found to be cross-dressing, resulting in mayhem and what are now referred to as the Stonewall Riots. This was a milestone in a long history of LGBTQ+ activism.
Continue reading
COINTELPRO: Teaching the FBI’s War on the Black Freedom Movement
Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. Rethinking Schools. 29 pages.
Through examining FBI documents, students learn the scope of the FBI’s COINTELPRO campaign to spy on, infiltrate, discredit, and disrupt all corners of the Black Freedom Movement.
Continue reading
Through examining FBI documents, students learn the scope of the FBI’s COINTELPRO campaign to spy on, infiltrate, discredit, and disrupt all corners of the Black Freedom Movement.
July 10, 1972: Shirley Chisholm at Democratic National Convention
Shirley Chisholm was an historic candidate at the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach. Chisholm was outspoken on behalf of civil rights legislation, the Equal Rights Amendment, and a minimum family income; she opposed wiretapping, domestic spying, and the Vietnam War.
Continue reading
July 12, 1964: Henry Dee and Charles Moore Case
The bodies of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee, were found in the Mississippi River. They had been tortured and murdered by the Klan two months earlier.
Continue reading
July 18, 1966: Hough Uprising
Protest and civil unrest broke out in Cleveland following years of escalation of racial tension.
Continue reading
Aug. 4, 1964: Civil Rights Workers Bodies Found
The bodies of three lynched civil rights workers (James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman) were found in Neshoba County, Mississippi.
Continue reading
Howard Zinn’s Southern Diary
Book — Non-fiction. By Robert Cohen. 2018. 312 pages.
A historical overview and diary entries from Howard Zinn's years as an activist professor at Spelman College.
Continue reading
A historical overview and diary entries from Howard Zinn's years as an activist professor at Spelman College.
Teaching SNCC: The Organization at the Heart of the Civil Rights Revolution
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. Rethinking Schools. 24 pages.
A series of role plays that explore the history and evolution of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, including freedom rides and voter registration.
Continue reading
A series of role plays that explore the history and evolution of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, including freedom rides and voter registration.
What We Don’t Learn About the Black Panther Party — but Should
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez and Jesse Hagopian. Rethinking Schools. 33 pages.
A mixer lesson introduces students to the pivotal history of the Black Panthers.
Continue reading
A mixer lesson introduces students to the pivotal history of the Black Panthers.
Clyde Kennard Letter to the Editor, The American, 1959
Article. By Clyde Kennard. 1959.
Letter to the editor the Hattiesburg American about race and integration.
Continue reading
Letter to the editor the Hattiesburg American about race and integration.
Oct. 1, 1964: Free Speech Movement
The Free Speech Movement was launched at UC–Berkeley.
Continue reading
A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History
Book — Non-fiction. By Jeanne Theoharis. 2018. 282 pages.
A non-academic, popular historiography that challenges educators to revamp curriculum to include a fuller, more critical history of the Civil Rights era.
Continue reading
A non-academic, popular historiography that challenges educators to revamp curriculum to include a fuller, more critical history of the Civil Rights era.