Democracy & Citizenship Archives

Feb. 25, 1870: Hiram Revels Sworn into Office

Hiram Revels was sworn into office as senator from Mississippi, becoming the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Feb. 23, 1868: W. E. B. Du Bois Born

W. E. B. Du Bois, sociologist, historian, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor, was one of the most important scholars of the 20th century.

Feb. 26, 2012: Trayvon Martin Murdered

Trayvon Martin, a Black teenager, was murdered. The death of Martin and acquittal of the man who shot him sparked the national and global Movement for Black Lives.

Feb. 13, 1937: Founding of Southern Negro Youth Congress

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

Feb. 12, 1968: Sanitation Workers Strike in Memphis

Over 1,100 sanitation workers strike and march for better wages, conditions, and safety with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee.

Jan. 28, 1918: Porvenir Massacre

Fifteen Mexican-Americans were killed by Texas Rangers during the Porvenir Massacre.

Clifton Walker (Photo) | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 28, 1964: Clifton Walker Murdered

Korean War veteran Clifton Walker was murdered by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan while on his way home from his late work shift at the International Paper plant in Mississippi.

Feb. 27, 1973: Activists Occupy Wounded Knee

About 250 Sioux Indians, led by members of the American Indian Movement, converged on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation, launching the famous 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee.

The Fifteenth Amendment and its results poster | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Feb. 3, 1870: 15th Amendment Ratified

The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution officially granted African American men the right to vote.

Jan. 1, 1960: Greenville Airport Protest

South Carolina NAACP held Greenville Airport Protest in support of Jackie Robinson.

Jan. 1, 1863: Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863. Who did it “emancipate”? And who gets credited?

Jan. 5, 1997: Guam Commission on Decolonization

Guam established a Commission on Decolonization.

Jan. 1, 2009: Oscar Grant Killed

Oscar Grant was fatally shot by BART Police in Oakland.

Jan. 3, 1966: Sammy Younge Jr. Murdered

Samuel Younge Jr., Navy vet, Tuskegee student, activist was killed in Alabama for using a “whites-only” bathroom. SNCC issued a powerful statement about his murder and in opposition to the Vietnam War.

Jan. 4, 1874: Adelbert Ames Becomes Governor of Mississippi

Adelbert Ames become the elected governor of Mississippi during the Reconstruction era.

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.

Dec. 20, 1990: Dr. Yolanda Huet-Vaughn Refused Service in First Gulf War

Kansas reservist Dr. Yolanda Huet-Vaughn refused orders to serve in the first Gulf War (Desert Storm).

March 26, 1839: End of The Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears removed Cherokee Indians from their ancestral home in the Smoky Mountains to the Oklahoma Territory.

Jan. 6, 1874: Robert B. Elliott Spoke of Need for Civil Rights Act

Rep. Robert B. Elliott gave a speech to advocate for the Civil Rights Act, which passed a year later.

March 6, 1857: Dred (and Harriet) Scott Decision

The Supreme Court declared in horrific Dred Scott v. Sandford ruling that “Any person descended from Africans, whether slave or free, is not a citizen of U.S.”

March 7, 1965: Bloody Sunday

To protest the police murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson and for voting rights, more than 600 people began a peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery.

The Confederate Constitute | Zinn Education Project

March 11, 1861: Confederate Constitution Adopted

The Constitution of the Confederate States of America was adopted a month before the Civil War started.

April 17, 1863: Charlotte Brown Forced Off Streetcar

Charlotte Brown was forcibly removed from a horse-drawn streetcar in San Francisco.

Clarence Earl Gideon's handwritten petition for a writ of cert to the Supreme Court.

March 18, 1963: Gideon v. Wainwright

The ruling of Gideon v. Wainwright required states to provide counsel in criminal cases to represent defendants who are unable to afford to pay their own attorneys.

Stokely Carmichael talking with a local person about the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) in 1966.

March 23, 1965: Selma to Montgomery March Continues

The Selma to Montgomery marchers traveled into Lowndes County, working with local leaders to organize residents into a new political organization: the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO).

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