1920 Archives

Aug. 23, 1927: Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco Executed

Italian-born immigrants, workers, and anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in Boston, Massachusetts.

Aug. 25, 1925: Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was launched in New York.

Aug. 31, 1921: Battle of Blair Mountain

The Battle of Blair Mountain was the climax of two mine wars fought in the West Virginia coalfields.

Aug. 24, 1922: Howard Zinn Born

Howard Zinn, a historian, author, professor, playwright, and activist, was born in Brooklyn, New York.

Sept. 14, 1941: Rally Against Police Brutality

Following years of organizing against police brutality, four marches from different points in the city of Washington, D.C. converged at 10th and U Streets NW.

Southern Conference on Race Relations, Durham, N.C.: Statement of Purpose.

Oct. 20, 1942: Durham Manifesto

The Southern Conference on Race Relations (SCRR) was held in Durham, North Carolina to address dichotomy between African American soldiers fighting overseas in the name of democracy while in the U.S. they were facing racial violence and being denied basic human rights.

Nov. 2, 1920: The Ocoee Massacre

More than fifty African Americans killed in the Ocoee Massacre after going to vote in Florida.

April 3, 1934: Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union

The Southern Tenant Farmers Union broke away from a larger organization and became a racially integrated workers union.

Jewish prisoners in Baden-Baden | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 9, 1938: Pogromnacht in Germany and Austria

Violent anti-Jewish demonstrations in Europe in which hundreds of synagogues were destroyed; 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses, homes, and schools were plundered; 91 Jews were murdered; and 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps.

Shirley Chisholm | Zinn Education Project

Nov. 30, 1924: Shirley Chisholm Born

Born on this day, Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress

Coltrane at Blue Train session, 1957. By Francis Wolff.

Sept. 23, 1926: John Coltrane Born

John Coltrane was born. Also born #tdih: Mary Church Terrell (1863), Ray Charles (1930), and Bruce Springsteen (1949).

Sept. 29, 1943: Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary Hunger Strike

Conscientious objectors began a hunger strike at Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary.

Oct. 2, 1937: Parsley Massacre

Under the orders of U.S.-backed Dominican dictator President Rafael Trujillo, the execution of more than 20,000 Haitians began in what is now known as the Parsley Massacre at Massacre River.

March in support of Ethiopia | Zinn Education Project

Oct. 3, 1935: Ethiopia Invaded by Italy

Ethiopia was invaded by Fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini.

From the New Deal to the Green New Deal: Stories of Crisis and Possibility

Teaching Activity. By Suzanna Kassouf, Matt Reed, Tim Swinehart, Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, and Bill Bigelow.
The stories of twenty people whose lives were touched by the New Deal of the 1930s come to life in this classroom activity, intended to open students' minds to the possibilities of a Green New Deal.

workers protesting against Ford Motor Co.

March 7, 1932: Hunger March Against Ford Motors

A hunger march by unemployed workers against Ford Motors.

mug shot of Wobbly Ben Fletcher, book cover

Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Peter Cole. 2021. 352 pages.
This biography details the life of Black IWW organizer Ben Fletcher and the working class struggles he took part in.

Teaching Activity by Peter Cole (editor)

Still Dreaming / Seguimos soñando

Picture book. Written by Claudia Guadalupe Martínez, illustrated by Magdalena Mora, and translated by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite. 2022. 40 pages.
The story of a boy and his family who leave their beloved home to avoid being separated by the government during the Mexican Repatriation.

April 17, 1944: Modjeska Simkins Challenges SC Governor to a Debate

Prompted by South Carolina’s all-white political primary system, civil rights advocate Modjeska Monteith Simkins wrote a letter to Governor Olin D. Johnston of South Carolina challenging him to a debate on white supremacy.

Dec. 30, 1936: First Sit-Down Strike Begins in Flint

The Flint sit-down strike represented a shift in union organizing strategies from craft unionism (organizing white male skilled workers) to industrial unionism (organizing all the workers in an industry). The sit-down strike changed the balance of power between employers and workers.

Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad

Book — Non-fiction. By Matthew Delmont. 2024. 400 pages.
Accounts from the Black press, Black workers and veterans, and civil rights activists, will help teachers and students tell a fuller, truer, and more historically useful story of World War II.

Mary McLeod Bethune, pictured in the 1920s, when her school became a co-ed institution and she became the president of the National Association of Colored Women.

Fall, 1922: Mary McLeod Bethune Confronts Klan to Defend Black Voting Rights

Mary McLeod Bethune faced off against the Ku Klux Klan in defense of Black voting rights in Daytona, Florida.

book cover showing African American school child on stage holding a microphone.

How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee

Picture Book. By Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrated by Frank Morrison. 2023. 40 pages.
The story of eighth grader MacNolia Cox, the first African American to win the Akron, Ohio, spelling bee, and the racism she faced during her journey to compete at the prestigious National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

July 4, 1940: Black World’s Fair Held in Chicago

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the ending of slavery in the United States, the Black World’s Fair, also known as the American Negro Exposition, was held at the Chicago Coliseum from July through September 1940.

Oct. 12, 1925: U.S. Fights Panama Renters’ Strike

Protesting rising rents and unsanitary conditions, tenants in Panama City, Panama were met with swift force and violence by U.S. soldiers, with six killed during the weekend.

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