1961–1974 Archives

Oct. 8, 1965: Enforcement of Civil Rights Act Curtailed in Chicago Schools

Federal funds were quickly restored to Chicago public schools after they were withheld for continued segregation in schools, effectively curtailing enforcement of the Civil Rights Act in Chicago.

Sept. 25, 1970: NYU Weinstein Hall Occupation for LGBTQ+ Rights

LGBTQ+ activists organized an occupation of NYU’s Weinstein Hall to protest the university’s discriminatory conduct against LGBTQ+ students and the local community.

July 24, 1969: Founding of the Gay Liberation Front

A group of gay men and lesbians who were tired of police abuse and frustrated with the Mattachine Society’s tactics formed the Gay Liberation Front.

July 6, 1973: Founding of the Lavender Panthers in San Francisco

Spurred by the sharp increase in violence against the LGBTQ+ community, the Lavender Panthers formed as a group of armed street vigilantes who patrolled San Francisco to defend the gay community.

Feb. 3, 1966: Infant Killed by Rats

Andre Adams, a baby two days shy of his first birthday, was chewed to death by a rat in Chicago.

May 25, 1966: Teenager Lynched in Chicago

Seventeen year old Black teenager Jerome Huey was brutally murdered by four white teenagers in Cicero, Illinois, sparking public protests and demands for justice.

Nov. 3, 1964: D.C. Residents Voted in Presidential Election for First Time

Following the 23rd Amendment, in 1964, Washington, D.C. residents voted in a presidential election for the first time since 1800.

Soldiers in Revolt: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

Book — Non-fiction. By David Cortright. Introduction by Howard Zinn. 2005. 355 pages.
Documents the rebellion among U.S. soldiers opposed to the Vietnam War.

Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties

Book — Non-fiction. By Mike Marqusee. 2017. 352 pages.
Tells the story of Muhammad Ali as not only a boxer but a remarkable political figure in a decade of tumultuous change.

Dec. 1961: Christmas Shopping Boycott

Aaron Henry (Mississippi state NAACP president, pharmacist, drugstore owner) and the Coahoma County NAACP organized an effective Christmas shopping boycott in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Oct. 7, 1974: 17-year-old Gary Tyler Becomes Youngest on U.S. Death Row

At 17 years old, Gary Tyler entered Louisiana State Prison — commonly known as Angola — as the state’s youngest Death Row prisoner and remained there for 41 years before gaining his freedom.

Stitching Freedom

Book — Non-fiction. By Gary Tyler with Ellen Bravo. 2025. 288 pages.
In the tradition of books by Albert Woodfox and Angela Davis, this memoir of a wrongful conviction and time spent on death row in Angola prison shows how incarcerated people care for each other and fight for justice.

Attica Prison Uprising | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 9, 1971: Attica Prison Uprising

The Attica Prison Uprising began when prisoners took control of part of the prison in Upstate New York.

Vietnam and Beyond: The Historic Resistance

Teaching Activity. By Mike Benbow and Robin Pickering. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 18 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on opposition to the Vietnam War.

Teaching the Vietnam War: Beyond the Headlines

Teaching Activity. By the Zinn Education Project. 100 pages.
Eight lessons about the Vietnam War, Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon Papers, and whistleblowing.

Rethinking What We Know About the Vietnam War

Teaching Activity. Zinn Education Project. 21 pages.
Two lessons to introduce key facts about the Vietnam War and the Pentagon Papers, documents that provide essential history that is often ignored by textbooks.

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.

Jan. 10, 1966: Voting Rights Activist Vernon Dahmer Murdered

Vernon Dahmer was killed when the Ku Klux Klan fired bombed his home. This was one day after Dahmer offered to pay the election poll tax for anyone who could not afford it.

Dec. 31, 1972: Roberto Clemente Dies

Puerto Rican Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash while traveling at great risk in response to urgent requests to deliver help to earthquake devastated Nicaragua.

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.

Jan. 2, 1962: NBC Bans Weavers for Refusal to Sign Loyalty Oath

The Weavers had their scheduled appearance on the NBC Jack Paar Show cancelled when they refused to sign an oath of political loyalty.

Takeover: How We Occupied a Hospital and Changed Public Health Care

Film. By Emma Francis-Snyder. 2021. 38 minutes.
Takeover tells the story of the Young Lords’ 12-hour occupation of Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx in 1970.

Oct. 20 or 27, 1968: NFL Player Dave Meggyesy Refused to Salute Flag During Anthem

St. Louis Cardinals NFL linebacker Dave Meggyesy disobeyed league rules and refused to salute the flag during the pre-game playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” nearly fifty years before San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee to protest police violence.

Bloods: Black Veterans of the Vietnam War — An Oral History

Book — Non-fiction. By Wallace Terry. 1985. 320 pages.
Oral histories of twenty Black veterans who tell their stories of being in the Vietnam War.

War! What Is It Good For?

Book — Non-fiction. By Kimberley Phillips Boehm. 2014. 360 pages.
Examines how Black people’s participation in the nation’s wars and their protracted struggles for equal citizenship galvanized a vibrant antiwar activism that reshaped their struggles for freedom.

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