African American Archives

Susie King Taylor: Nurse, Teacher & Freedom Fighter

Book — Non-fiction. By Erica Armstrong Dunbar, with Candace Buford. 2023. 288 pages.
A biography of Susie King Taylor, a nurse, teacher, and freedom fighter.

Pauli Murray: The Life of a Pioneering Feminist and Civil Rights Activist

Book — Non-fiction. By Terry Catasús Jennings and Rosita Stevens-Holsey, illustrated by Ashanti Fortson. 2022. 288 pages.
A biography of Pauli Murray, a queer civil rights and women’s rights activist who fought in the trenches for many of the rights we now take for granted.

La historia del pueblo de Estados Unidos para jóvenes

Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff with additions by Ed Morales. Translated by Hugo García Manríquez. 2023. 608 pages.
A Spanish translation of the young adult version of the best-selling A People’s History of the United States.

Sept. 16, 1968: Harrison High School Student Uprising

One third of the students at Harrison Technical High School staged a walkout to protest the lack of African American history classes, overcrowding and poor conditions, and more.

Feb. 27, 1967: NAACP Treasurer Wharlest Jackson Murdered in Natchez

Wharlest Jackson (1930–1967), treasurer of the Natchez, Mississippi branch of the NAACP, was assassinated with a car bomb.

Aug. 24, 1955: Old Fort School Desegregation Struggle

The destruction of a local Black elementary school and the refusal to allow Black children to attend the all-white school led to a years-long battle for desegregation in Old Fort, North Carolina.

Dec. 8, 1936: Gibbs v. Broome Leads to Pay Equity for Black Teachers

In an attempt to gain pay equity for Black teachers in Maryland, William B. Gibbs Jr. became the lead plaintiff in the NAACP’s case for pay equity in Montgomery County, a case known as Gibbs v. Broome.

Jan. 10, 1942: Lee Street Massacre

A month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Black soldiers on R&R in the town of Alexandria, Louisiana were attacked by local and military police, with dozens murdered and countless others injured in this brutal instance of Jim Crow violence.

Parade in San Francisco for the first national Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1986.

Jan. 20, 1986: First National Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday

The United States celebrated its first national Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, three years after the holiday was signed into law and eighteen years after the fight for a King holiday began.

Feb. 27, 1960: McKenney Library Sit-in

In attempt to end segregation at the William R. McKenney Central Library in Petersburg, Virginia, a group of African American students held a sit-in.

The Constitution of the Maine Anti-Slavery Society, which was founded in May 1833.

Oct. 15, 1834: First Maine Anti-Slavery Society Convention

The first Maine Anti-Slavery Society Convention was held in Augusta.

Sketch of people debating at the Colored Convention in Washington D.C.

Oct. 6, 1841: Maine’s First Colored Convention

The first Colored Convention in Maine was an opportunity for northern Black abolitionists to organize and strategize for racial justice and the freedom of those still enslaved throughout the South.

March 1, 1784: Rhode Island Passes Gradual Emancipation Act

While the state of Rhode Island legally abolished slavery in 1652, it wasn’t until 1784 — after mounting public pressure to do away with the enslavement of other human beings once and for all — that the state passed the Gradual Emancipation Act.

A graphic showing a Black hand, medical equipment, and flowers, along with the words "The People's Hospital"

The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine

Book — Non-fiction. By Ricardo Nuila. 2023. 384 pages.
Tells the story of five uninsured Houstonians who are each struggling with life-threatening ailments and denied critical care until they arrive at Ben Taub Hospital, where they find a crucial model of innovative healthcare.

July 1964: Founding of the Medical Committee for Human Rights

The Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR) provided support to civil rights workers in Mississippi at the height of the Civil Rights Movement and raised awareness of the health care disparities due to racism in the United States.

Oct. 17, 1868: Abraham Galloway Elected as North Carolina Senator

During his 33 years, Abraham Galloway accomplished more than most. An abolitionist, a freedom fighter, a spy, a politician, Galloway rose to prominence during the Civil War and Reconstruction, leaving a legacy of Black leadership and resistance to white supremacy and white violence.