Laws & Citizen Rights Archives

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.

March 31, 1944: Frank S. Emi Interrogated

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

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (photo) | Zinn Education Project

March 29, 1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Convicted of Espionage

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of espionage.

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.

March 23, 1940: Pauli Murray Arrested on Bus in Virginia

Pauli Murray and Adelene McBean were arrested on a Greyhound bus near Petersburg, Virginia for refusing to move to the back of the bus and were subsequently arrested and jailed.

Aug. 7, 1906: Barbara Pope Refuses to Change Seats on Train

High school teacher, fiction author, and civil rights activist Barbara Pope refused to sit in the ‘colored’ compartment of a train heading from Washington, D.C. to Virginia.

May 28, 1963: Woolworth Sit-in in Jackson, Mississippi

Students and faculty from Tougaloo College held a sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi.

March 8, 1971: FBI’s COINTELPRO Exposed

A cab driver, a day care provider, and two professors broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, and stole more than 1,000 classified documents.

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.

May 4, 1970: Kent State Massacre

During an anti-war protest at Kent State University, the Ohio National Guard shot unarmed college students, killing four. Students were also killed at Jackson State (May 15, 1970), and Orangeburg (February 8, 1968).

Sept. 20, 1962: James Meredith Attempts to Register at University of Mississippi

James Meredith attempted to register at the University of Mississippi.

People's Grocery Marker (Photo) | Zinn Education Project

March 9, 1892: The People’s Grocery Lynchings

A white mob seized three African American business men in Memphis, Tennessee and lynched them without trial.

June 15, 1982: Plyler v. Doe Supreme Court Decision

Striking down a Texas state law, the Supreme Court ruled that “all children, regardless of immigration status, have a constitutional right to a free public education from kindergarten to 12th grade.”

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