SNCC Digital Gateway
Digital collection. Historical materials, profiles, timeline, map, and stories on SNCC’s voting rights organizing.
Continue reading
Theme: Civil Rights Movements
Civil Rights Movements
June 20, 1967: Muhammad Ali Convicted for Refusing the Vietnam Draft
Muhammad Ali was convicted for refusing induction in the U.S. armed forces.
Continue reading
June 12, 1963: Medgar Evers Murdered in Mississippi
Medgar Evers, WWII veteran and civil rights activist, was murdered by a white supremacist in Jackson, Mississippi.
Continue reading
The Voting Rights Act: Ten Things You Should Know
Article. By Emilye Crosby and Judy Richardson. 2015.
Key points in the history of the 1965 Voting Rights Act missing from most textbooks.
Continue reading
Key points in the history of the 1965 Voting Rights Act missing from most textbooks.
African Americans Against the Bomb: Nuclear Weapons, Colonialism, and the Black Freedom Movement
Book — Non-fiction. By Vincent Intondi. 2015. 224 pages.
History of Black activists who fought for nuclear disarmament.
Continue reading
History of Black activists who fought for nuclear disarmament.
Lowndes County and the Voting Rights Act
Article. By Hasan Kwame Jeffries.
History and significance of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization.
Continue reading
History and significance of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization.
Counter Histories
Film. Produced by John T. Edge and the Southern Foodways Alliance; directed by Kate Medley.
Five short films that document the civil disobedience staged at segregated lunch counters in the 1950s and 60s.
Continue reading
Five short films that document the civil disobedience staged at segregated lunch counters in the 1950s and 60s.
Making of Black Revolutionaries
Book — Non-fiction. By James Forman. 1997. 608 pages.
Detailed description of the Civil Rights Movement by one of the central leaders.
Continue reading
Detailed description of the Civil Rights Movement by one of the central leaders.
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer
Picture book. By Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrated by Ekua Holmes. 2015. 45 pages.
Illustrated biography of Fannie Lou Hamer, activist for voting and economic rights from Mississippi.
Continue reading
Illustrated biography of Fannie Lou Hamer, activist for voting and economic rights from Mississippi.
Count Them One by One: Black Mississippians Fighting for the Right to Vote
Book — Non-fiction. By Gordon A. Martin Jr. 2014. 272 pages.
A detailed portrait of brave individuals who risked everything in their fight for the right to vote.
Continue reading
A detailed portrait of brave individuals who risked everything in their fight for the right to vote.
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
Film. By Stanley Nelson. 2015. 115 minutes.
Documentary on the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.
Continue reading
Documentary on the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.
Kids in Birmingham 1963
Digital collection. A resource for the stories of people who were children in Birmingham in 1963.
Continue reading
Round and Round Together: Taking a Merry-Go-Round Ride Into the Civil Rights Movement
Book — Non-fiction. By Amy Nathan. 2011. 250 pages.
History of the decade long struggle to desegregate the Gwynn Oak Amusement Park in Baltimore, Maryland.
Continue reading
History of the decade long struggle to desegregate the Gwynn Oak Amusement Park in Baltimore, Maryland.
Sylvia Woods: “You Have to Fight for Freedom”
Film clip. Voices of a People’s History.
Dramatic reading of an excerpt from an interview of Sylvia Woods (1919) by Alana Arenas.
Continue reading
Dramatic reading of an excerpt from an interview of Sylvia Woods (1919) by Alana Arenas.
Blood in the Water: The Attica Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy
Book — Non-fiction. By Heather Ann Thompson. 2016. 752 pages.
The hidden history of the infamous 1971 Attica Prison Uprising.
Continue reading
The hidden history of the infamous 1971 Attica Prison Uprising.
Challenging Ourselves: Martin Luther King, the Movement, and Its Lessons for Today
Article. By Charles E. Cobb. 2017.
Charles E. Cobb Jr. discusses the Civil Rights Movement and its lessons, and how they apply to current movements.
Continue reading
Charles E. Cobb Jr. discusses the Civil Rights Movement and its lessons, and how they apply to current movements.
Now Can We Talk? 40 Years Later
Film. By Lee Anne Bell and Markie Hancock. 2013. 45 minutes.
This DVD and discussion guide offer a powerful way to engage students, teachers, and community groups in honest dialogue about the ongoing problems of racism and what we can do to address them.
Continue reading
This DVD and discussion guide offer a powerful way to engage students, teachers, and community groups in honest dialogue about the ongoing problems of racism and what we can do to address them.
W. E. B. Du Bois to Coretta Scott King: The Untold History of the Movement to Ban the Bomb
By Vincent Intondi
Continue reading
When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. announced his strong opposition to the war in Vietnam, the media attacked him for straying outside of his civil rights mandate. In so many words, powerful interests told him: “Mind your own business.” In fact, African American leaders have long been concerned with broad issues of peace and justice — and have especially opposed nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, this activism is left out of mainstream corporate-produced history textbooks.
March 14, 1968: King Speaks About the “Other America” in the North
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the speech titled “The Other America” focusing on economic inequalities and white complicity in the North.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
July 6, 1944: Lt. Jackie Robinson Refuses to Give Up Seat on Bus
While stationed at Camp Hood in Texas, Lieutenant Jackie Robinson refused to give up his seat on the bus and was court-martialed.
Continue reading
Dec. 25, 1951: Murder of Harriette and Harry Moore in Florida
The Ku Klux Klan bombed the home of labor and voting rights activists Harry T. Moore and Harriette Moore — killing them both. Harriette Moore taught elementary school, secretly teaching her students Black history in the face of bans by the state superintendent.
Continue reading
May 28, 1963: Woolworth Sit-in in Jackson, Mississippi
Students and faculty from Tougaloo College held a sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi.
Continue reading
May 2, 1963: Children of Birmingham Fill the Jails
In disciplined groups and singing freedom songs, students “ditch” class to march for justice and fill the jails.
Continue reading