Zinn Education Project

Paul Cuffee portrait by Chester Harding.

Feb. 10, 1780: Paul Cuffee and Other Free Blacks Petition for the Right to Vote

Paul Cuffee and other free Blacks petitioned the Massachusetts government to give African and Native Americans the right to vote.

McCarthy State Dep't | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 9, 1950: Sen. Joseph McCarthy Announces “Enemies Within”

Senator Joseph McCarthy delivered a speech at the McLure Hotel during which he claimed to hold a list of known communists in the U.S. State Department.

Photograph of National Woman's Party watchfire demonstrators standing with banners and fire in urn in front of White House. One banner reads, "President Wilson is deceiving the world when he appears as the prophet of democracy. President Wilson has opposed those who demand democracy for this country. He is responsible for the disfranchisement of millions of Americans. We in America know this. The world will find him out."

Feb. 9, 1919: Women Burn Effigy of President Wilson and Demand Right to Vote

In one of the more spectacular demonstrations for women's voting rights, the National Woman’s Party burned President Woodrow Wilson in effigy in front of the White House during the campaign for the 19th Amendment.

Feb. 8, 1968: Orangeburg Massacre

Two years before the Kent State murders, 28 students were injured and three were killed in Orangeburg, South Carolina — most shot in the back by the state police while involved in a peaceful protest.

Feb. 8, 1946: WWII Veteran Timothy Hood Killed

Timothy Hood, a veteran of the U.S. Marines, was killed for removing a Jim Crow sign.

Feb. 8, 1868: Kate Brown Blocked from Seat in Ladies’ Car and Assaulted

An employee of the U.S. Senate, Kate Brown found political support from Sen. Charles Sumner and others in Congress when she was violently removed from the ladies' car, which was segregated illegally.

Feb. 7, 1926: Carter G. Woodson Launched Negro History Week

Carter G. Woodson initiated the first celebration of Negro History Week which led to Black History Month.

Feb. 6, 1976: AIM Organizer Leonard Peltier Captured

American Indian Movement (AIM) organizer Leonard Peltier was arrested in 1976 for a crime he says he did not commit. He remained imprisoned for nearly 50 years, despite international campaigns and calls for his release,

Feb. 6, 1961: “Jail, No Bail” in Rock Hill, South Carolina Sit-Ins

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) sent four volunteers to Rock Hill, South Carolina to sit-in.

Feb. 2 and 5, 1951: Virginia Executes the Martinsville Seven

In 1951, the Commonwealth of Virginia executed seven Black men despite a national campaign in their defense.

partial book cover showing four faces of people lynched on Long Island.

Feb. 5, 1946: Ferguson Brothers Killed By Police on Long Island

Two African American brothers — Charles and Alphonso Ferguson — were shot and killed by a white police officer in the segregated Freeport neighborhood of Long Island, New York.

Feb. 5, 1866: Thaddeus Stevens Proposes Land Distribution Amendment

Congressman Thaddeus Stevens offered an amendment to the Freedmen's Bureau Bill to authorize the distribution of public land.

Feb. 4, 1899: War of Philippine Independence

When the United States refused to recognize Philippine independence, Philippine Republic president Emilio Aguinaldo declared war.

Feb. 3, 1964: New York City School Children Boycott School

More than 450,000 New York City school children boycotted school as part of a protest for quality schools for Black and Latino students.

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.

Feb. 3, 1868: First Freedmen’s Bureau Teacher Appointed in Lafayette Parish

Walter H. Williams was the first Black teacher appointed to a Freedmen’s Bureau School in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana during Reconstruction.

Feb. 2, 1959: The Norfolk 17 Attend Formerly All-White Schools

In Norfolk, where schools had been closed for months rather than desegregate, 17 African American students began attending six previously all-white middle and high schools on February 2, 1959.