July 11, 1964: Lemuel Penn Killed
Athens-area Ku Klux Klan members shot and killed WWII veteran and DCPS assistant superintendent Lemuel Penn.
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Period: 1961–1974
People’s Movement: 1961 – 1974
July 14, 1969: Soccer War
In 1969, a brief war broke out between Honduras and El Salvador.
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April 24, 1971: Anti-War Protests in D.C. and San Francisco
500,000 people demonstrated against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C.
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Feb. 21, 1965: Malcolm X Assassinated
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) was assassinated, just weeks after speaking in Selma.
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Feb. 26, 1965: Jimmie Lee Jackson Murdered
Jimmie Lee Jackson was beaten and shot by an Alabama state trooper during a peaceful voting rights march on Feb. 18. He died eight days later.
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Feb. 12, 1968: Sanitation Workers Strike in Memphis
Over 1,100 sanitation workers strike and march for better wages, conditions, and safety with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee.
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Feb. 28, 1964: Clifton Walker Murdered
Korean War veteran Clifton Walker was murdered by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan while on his way home from his late work shift at the International Paper plant in Mississippi.
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Feb. 27, 1973: Activists Occupy Wounded Knee
About 250 Sioux Indians, led by members of the American Indian Movement, converged on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation, launching the famous 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee.
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Jan. 3, 1966: Sammy Younge Jr. Murdered
Samuel Younge Jr., Navy vet, Tuskegee student, activist was killed in Alabama for using a “whites-only” bathroom. SNCC issued a powerful statement about his murder and in opposition to the Vietnam War.
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March 16, 1968: Mỹ Lai Massacre and Hugh Thompson
Hugh Thompson tried to defend Vietnamese villagers during Mỹ Lai Massacre.
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March 18, 1963: Gideon v. Wainwright
The ruling of Gideon v. Wainwright required states to provide counsel in criminal cases to represent defendants who are unable to afford to pay their own attorneys.
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March 18, 1970: Postal Workers Strike
The first mass work stoppage in the 195-year history of the Postal Service began with a walkout of letter carriers in Brooklyn and Manhattan who were demanding better wages.
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March 22, 1968: March for Justice and Jobs
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Community on the Move for Equality called for a march in Memphis, Tennessee in solidarity with sanitation workers.
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March 23, 1965: Selma to Montgomery March Continues
The Selma to Montgomery marchers traveled into Lowndes County, working with local leaders to organize residents into a new political organization: the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO).
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March 25, 1965: Last Selma March
The Selma marches were three protest marches about voting rights, held in 1965.
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March 29, 1973: Last U.S. Troops Depart South Vietnam
The last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam, ending direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War.
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Dec. 22, 1969: Radio Free Alcatraz
Radio Free Alcatraz broadcasts for the first time.
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April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while in Memphis to support the striking sanitation workers.
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The Fog Machine
Book — Fiction. By Susan Follett. 2014. 389 pages.
A young adult novel of historical fiction based on Freedom Summer.
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A young adult novel of historical fiction based on Freedom Summer.
Beaches, Blood, and Ballots: A Black Doctor’s Civil Rights Struggle
Book — Non-fiction. By Gilbert R. Mason. 2007. 227 pages.
Dr. Gilbert R. Mason’s eyewitness account of the fight for racial justice on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi during the civil rights movement.
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Dr. Gilbert R. Mason’s eyewitness account of the fight for racial justice on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi during the civil rights movement.
We Shall Not Be Moved: The Jackson Woolworth Sit-In and the Movement It Inspired
Book — Non-fiction. By M.J. O'Brien. 2014. 340 pages.
An up-close study of the story behind the iconic photographs of the Jackson, Mississippi sit-ins.
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An up-close study of the story behind the iconic photographs of the Jackson, Mississippi sit-ins.
As Fast As Words Could Fly
Book — Fiction. By Pamela M Tuck. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. 2013. 32 pages.
Based on her father’s experience in 1960s North Carolina, Pamela Tuck tells how a family and community challenge racism where they work, shop, and go to school.
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Based on her father’s experience in 1960s North Carolina, Pamela Tuck tells how a family and community challenge racism where they work, shop, and go to school.
We’ve Got A Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March
Book — Non-fiction. By Cynthia Levinson. 2012. 176 pages.
Tells the story of the 4,000 Black elementary, middle, and high school students who voluntarily went to jail between May 2 and May 11, 1963.
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Tells the story of the 4,000 Black elementary, middle, and high school students who voluntarily went to jail between May 2 and May 11, 1963.
Revolution
Book — Fiction. By Deborah Wiles 2014. 544 pages.
Historical fiction for young adults set in Greenwood, Mississippi during the 1964 Freedom Summer.
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Historical fiction for young adults set in Greenwood, Mississippi during the 1964 Freedom Summer.
Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights
Book — Non-fiction. By Tananarive Due and Patricia Stephens Due. 2003. 416 pages.
An unforgettable story of a mother-daughter journey spanning two generations of Civil Rights struggles.
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An unforgettable story of a mother-daughter journey spanning two generations of Civil Rights struggles.