1910–1919 Archives

Several Killed in Race Riot, El Paso Herald | Zinn Education Project

May 10, 1919: Charleston White Mob Riot

White sailors ignited violent rioting in Charleston, South Carolina during the Red Summer of 1919. African Americans fought back, in self-defense.

Photo of Will Brown from the "World-Herald," 1919.

Sept. 28, 1919: The Omaha Courthouse Lynching and Riot

A white mob of between 5,000 to 15,000 lynched African American Will Brown. The Army arrested mob ringleaders. Even though photographs identified them, all of the suspects were eventually released.

April 13, 1919: Jenkins County Riot

A riot ensued after Louis Ruffin, an Army veteran, pulled out his gun to defend his family during an altercation between his father and two police officers.

Campaign poster for Victor Berger (1860-1929), U.S. Senatorial campaign.

March 2, 1912: HR 409 Hearings on Lawrence Strike

Milwaukee representative Victor Berger introduced House Resolution 409 to conduct hearings into the Lawrence strike and the workings of the American Woolen Company.

The Untold History of the United States: Young Readers Editions, Vols 1 (1898-1945) & 2 (1945-1962)

Book — Non-fiction. By Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick. Adapted by Susan Campbell Bartoletti and Eric S. Singer. Vol 1. 2014. 400 pages. Vol 2. 2019. 320 pages.
These are two volumes of illustrated histories, adapted for students from a documentary book and film of the same name.

Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America

Book — Non-fiction. By Cameron McWhirter. 2012. 368 pages.
A chronicle of white supremacist violence in major U.S. cities across the nation after World War I.

June 4, 1919: Congress Passes 19th Amendment and Sends to States for Ratification

Congress passed the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Jan. 1, 1915: John Henrik Clarke Born in Alabama

The teacher, scholar, and Pan-Africanist intellectual leader was born in Alabama.

The Strange Careers of the Jim Crow North: Segregation and Struggle Outside of the South

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Brian Purnell and Jeanne Theoharis with Komozi Woodard. 2019. 352 pages.
This important work shows how the Jim Crow North maintained inequality in the nation’s most liberal places, and chronicles how activists worked to undo those inequities born of Northern Jim Crow.

Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson

Book — Non-fiction. Written and illustrated by Sharon Rudahl. Edited by Paul Buhle and Lawrence Ware. 2020. 142 pages.
The first-ever graphic biography of Paul Robeson charts Robeson’s career as a singer, actor, scholar, athlete, and activist who achieved global fame.

Fasanella - The Great Strike | Zinn Education Project

One Hundred Years After the Singing Strike

By Norm Diamond

Today’s Occupy movement is a reminder that throughout U.S. history a major engine of change has been grassroots organizing and solidarity. As an old Industrial Workers of the World song goes:

An injury to one, we say’s an injury to all, United we’re unbeatable, divided we must fall. —“Dublin Dan” Liston, The Portland Revolution

Major history textbooks, however, downplay the role of ordinary people in shaping events, especially those who formed labor unions and used the strike to assert their rights. One of the most significant strikes in U.S. history occurred exactly 100 years ago, in the Lawrence, Mass. textile mills, and yet it merits barely a mention in the most widely used U.S. history textbooks.

Riot Sweeps Chicago | Zinn Education Project

July 27, 1919: Red Summer in Chicago

Sparked by a white police officer’s refusal to make an arrest in the murder of a Black teenager, violence in Chicago lasted almost a week. At least 38 people were killed and thousands of Black homes were looted and damaged during Red Summer.

July 29, 1910: Slocum Massacre in Texas

Citizens in the small, predominately African American town of Slocum, Texas, were massacred.

Justseeds poster showing dockworkers rolling a barrel.

Sept. 5, 1917: Federal Raids on IWW

Federal agents seized records, destroyed equipment and books, and arrested hundreds of activists involved with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

Sept. 9, 1915: The Association for the Study of African American Life and History

ASALH was established by Carter G. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland.

April 4, 1917: The Jobabo Massacre

In April 1917, soldiers entered the sugar town of Jobabo in eastern Cuba and, according to eyewitnesses, executed several British West Indian men.

The Truth About Helen Keller

Article. By Ruth Shagoury.
A review of children's picture books about the life of Helen Keller reveals the omission of any description of her active role in key social movements of the 20th century.

Teaching Activity by Ruth Shagoury

Elaine Massacre Defendants | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 30, 1919: Elaine Massacre

Black farmers were massacred in Elaine, Arkansas for their efforts to fight for better pay and higher cotton prices. A white mob shot at them, and the farmers returned fire in self-defense. Estimates range from 100-800 killed, and 67 survivors were indicted for inciting violence.

Nov. 19, 1915: Labor Organizer Joe Hill Executed

The state of Utah executed Joe Hill, labor organizer, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

Nov. 28, 1919: Jane Addams and Palmer Raids

The Palmer Raids began in November of 1919 and targeted suspected radical leftists, especially anarchists, and deported them from the United States.

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.

March 21, 1919: Associated Negro Press Launched

Entrepreneur Claude Albert Barnett launched the Associated Negro Press, or ANP, a nationwide and international news service that focused on current events, feature stories, opinions and other information important to African Americans but usually ignored by or unknown to white-owned mainstream media.

May 14, 1913: Longshore Strike in Philadelphia

More than four thousand Philadelphia longshoremen, organized by African American IWW leader Ben Fletcher, went on strike and shut down one of the busiest ports in the United States.

Arise!: Global Radicalism in the Era of the Mexican Revolution

Book — Non-fiction. By Christina Heatherton. 2022. 336 pages.
This book tells the international history of radical movements and their convergences during the Mexican Revolution, reconstructing how this era's organizers found new ways to fight global capitalism.

Image and caption from Popular Mechanics magazine (March, 1912) succinctly describing how burning coal causes what is now known as the greenhouse effect, and how it may affect future climate.

March 1, 1912: Article Links Coal Burning and Global Temperatures

Francis Molina published an article in New York’s Popular Mechanics on March 1, 1912, which was then republished in New Zealand and other papers around the globe, becoming one of the first news items to directly connect increased coal burning, increased CO2 emissions, and increasing temperatures of the earth.

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