African American Archives

Oct. 17, 1972: The Wilmington Ten Convicted

Ten young Black activists and community members — known as the Wilmington Ten — were wrongfully convicted in North Carolina for standing up for racial justice and equal education.

July 13, 1863: New York City Draft Riots and Massacre

The New York City Draft Massacre (“Riots”) were the largest civil insurrection in U.S. history besides the Civil War itself. White mobs attacked the African American community — committing murder and burning homes and institutions (including an orphanage.)

July 17, 1944: Port Chicago Disaster and Mutiny

A deadly munitions explosion occurred at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California. When the surviving African Americans sailors demanded safer conditions before returning to work, they faced court martial and jail.

July 21, 1656: Elizabeth Key Wins Her Freedom

In early Colonial Virginia, Elizabeth Key became the first woman of African descent in the North American colonies to sue for her freedom and win.

1919

Book — Non-fiction. By Eve L. Ewing. 2019. 96 pages.
Poetic reflections on the Chicago Race Riots of 1919 — part of 'Red Summer' — in a history told through Ewing's speculative and Afrofuturist lenses.

April 23, 1951: 16-Year-Old Barbara Johns Leads a Student Strike

Barbara Johns (16-years-old) led her classmates in a strike to protest the substandard conditions in Prince Edward County, Virginia.

Dec. 27, 1937: Harriet Elizabeth Brown Case Settled

Harriet Elizabeth Brown, a teacher from Maryland, sued for equal pay for Black teachers and won the case.

June 3, 1946: Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia

SCOTUS ruled against Jim Crow segregation on interstate commerce in Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia, leading to Journey of Reconciliation Freedom Rides.

photos of the three missing men during Mississippi Freedom Summer.

Aug. 4, 1964: Civil Rights Workers Bodies Found

The bodies of three lynched civil rights workers (James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman) were found in Neshoba County, Mississippi.

Frances Harper, William Sylvis, Isaac Myers, and John Roy Lynch pictured. They were leaders of the Reconstruction Era in US history

When the Impossible Suddenly Became Possible: A Reconstruction Mixer

Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez and Nqobile Mthethwa. 25 pages.
A mixer role play explores the connections between different social movements during Reconstruction.

Teaching Activity by Adam Sanchez

Nov. 3, 1883: Danville Riot

African Americans voters were threatened after the Danville Riot, leading to their loss of political power in this majority African American city in Virginia.

Radical members of the first South Carolina legislature after the war.

Jan. 14, 1868: South Carolina Constitutional Convention

The South Carolina constitutional convention met with a majority of Black delegates, adopting a constitution that provided for all people regardless of race, economic class, or gender.

March 24, 1966: Supreme Court Officially Abolishes Last Vestige of Poll Taxes

A U.S. Supreme Court decision bans poll taxes for state and local elections.

May 19, 1972: First Malcolm X Day Celebration in D.C.

In a personal essay about the longest-running, largest annual event to celebrate the legacy of Malcolm X, Charles Stephenson describes the celebration’s founding and impact of that day in history.

Feb. 26, 1870: Wyatt Outlaw Murdered

Wyatt Outlaw, a Union veteran who became the first Black town commissioner of Graham, North Carolina, was seized from his home and lynched by members of the Ku Klux Klan known as the White Brotherhood, which controlled the county.

Juneteenth: Teaching Outside the Textbook

Juneteenth — June 19th, also known as Emancipation Day — is one of the commemorations of people seizing their freedom from slavery in the United States. Yet, if the right wing has its way, it will be illegal to teach students about Juneteenth.

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.

The House on Rondo

Book — Historical fiction. By Debra J. Stone. 2025. 104 pages.
A young girl reckons with the demolition of a Black Saint Paul neighborhood to make way for the Interstate in the early 1960s.

Aug. 1, 1952: Sarah Keys Refuses to Give Up Her Seat on a Bus

Sarah Keys refused to give up her seat on a state-to-state charter bus, prompting the landmark court case, Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company.

July 29, 1835: Abolitionist Literature Removed from Post Office and Burned

Late night raid on the Charleston post office by a mob of white supremacists and the burning of abolitionist mail.

April 12, 1787: Free African Society Founded

The Free African Society was a benevolent organization grounded in Christian religious faith and operating outside denominational differences to serve the social needs of Black Philadelphians.

Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City

Book — Non-fiction. 2025. By Bench Ansfield. 368 pages.
Examines the arson wave that hit the Bronx and other U.S. cities in the 1970s — and its legacy today.