school desegregation Archives - Zinn Education Project

Sept. 2, 1966: Grenada, Miss. School Desegregation Battle

The Grenada, Mississippi school board shuttered school instead of opening its doors to registered Black students.

Carter Children | Zinn Education Project

Aug. 12, 1965: Carter Family Insists on Rights Under Brown v. Board

Mae Bertha and Matthew Carter enrolled their children in schools in Sunflower County, Mississippi that had been illegally denied to African Americans. In retaliation, they were evicted from the land they sharecropped and their home was riddled with bullets.

June 11, 1965: Chicago School Boycott

More than 100,000 students stayed out of school to protest inequality and segregation in Chicago.

June 26, 1959: Prince Edward County Closes Public Schools

Rather than desegregate, the Prince Edward County, Virginia Board of Supervisors refused to appropriate money from the County School Board to the public schools.

Little Rock Schools | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 12, 1958: Little Rock Public Schools Closed

Orval Faubus closed all Little Rock, Arkansas public schools for one year rather than allow integration.

May 27, 1958: Ernest Green Graduates from Little Rock

Ernest Green became the first African-American to graduate from Little Rock Central High School in 1958.

Sept. 1, 1956: Clinton Desegregation Crisis

The White Citizens Council and Klan launched full-scale rioting in Clinton, Tennessee in response to school desegregation.

Jan. 5, 1931: Lemon Grove Incident

Mexican-American students were barred from attending their local elementary school. The parents took the school district to court.

School Desegregation | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 15, 1848: Benjamin Roberts Filed the First School Desegregation Suit

Benjamin Roberts, African American, filed the first school desegregation suit after his daughter Sarah was barred from a public school because of her race in Boston, Massachusetts.