Democracy & Citizenship Archives

March 9, 1865: The Lowry Band Help Guide General Sherman on His March to End the Civil War

The Lowry Band helped guide General Sherman on his march to end the Civil War.

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.

Oct. 2, 1968: Tlatelolco Massacre

Student demonstrators and other civilians were killed by the military and police in Mexico in advance of the 1968 Olympic Games.

Aug. 13, 1910: Ministers Appeal to President Taft After Slocum Massacre

A group of more than 150 ministers from Washington, D.C. wrote to President William Taft about the Slocum Massacre.

July 11, 1964: Lemuel Penn Killed

Athens-area Ku Klux Klan members shot and killed WWII veteran and DCPS assistant superintendent Lemuel Penn.

July 4, 1917: Hubert Harrison Urges Armed Self-Defense at Harlem Rally

Hubert Harrison urges armed self-defense at Harlem protest rally in the wake of two white supremacist pogroms against African Americans in East St. Louis.

Fort Hood Three Press Conference | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

June 30, 1966: Fort Hood Three Release Public Statement on Vietnam Refusal

The Fort Hood Three issued a public statement about their refusal to be sent to Vietnam.

June 27, 1954: Elected Guatemalan Leader Overthrown in CIA-Backed Coup

Democratically elected Guatemalan president Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán was deposed in a CIA-sponsored coup.

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.

May 18, 1896: Plessy v. Ferguson Ruling

Plessy v. Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities.

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.

March 8, 1971: FBI’s COINTELPRO Exposed

A cab driver, a day care provider, and two professors broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, and stole more than 1,000 classified documents.

Feb. 24, 1969: Tinker v. Des Moines Case Wins Free Speech Rights for Students

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Tinker v. Des Moines that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

Feb. 22, 1943: White Rose Members Executed

Student activists Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst were executed for urging students to rise up and overthrow the Nazi government.

Huey Newton surrounded by youth of East Oakland community, August 1970.

Feb. 17, 1942: Huey P. Newton Born

Huey P. Newton was co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.

Feb. 1, 1960: The Greensboro Sit-in Begins

Four African-American North Carolina A&T University students began a sit-in protest at a Woolworth’s whites-only lunch counter.

Jan. 26, 1944: Angela Davis Born

Born on this day, Angela Davis is a civil rights activist, writer, professor, and a founding member Critical Resistance, a national organization dedicated to the dismantling of the prison industrial complex.

Jan. 17, 1893: Queen Lili`uokalani of Hawai`i is Overthrown

Queen Lili`uokalani of the independent kingdom of Hawai`i was overthrown as she was arrested at gunpoint by U.S. Marines.

Dec. 30, 1971: Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo Jr. Indicted for Releasing the Pentagon Papers

Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony J. “Tony” Russo Jr. were indicted for releasing the Pentagon Papers, detailing the secret history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

May 14, 1960: Firehoses Confront Free Speech in S.F. City Hall

Peaceful protesters formed a picket line at the House on Un-American Activities Committee hearings.

The 1850 Fugitive Slave Law Convention, Cazenovia, New York. The Edmonson sisters are standing wearing bonnets and shawls in the row behind the seated speakers. Frederick Douglass is seated, with Gerritt Smith standing behind him, and with Abby Kelley Foster the likely person seated on Douglass's left.

April 15, 1848: The Escape on the Pearl Schooner

Seventy-seven enslaved people attempted to flee Washington, D.C. by sailing away on a schooner called The Pearl.

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.

Jeanette Rankin. Portrait by Robert Shetterly of Americans Who Tell the Truth.

Dec. 8, 1941: Jeannette Rankin Voted Against WWII

Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin was the only member of Congress to vote against declaring war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Executive Order 9066 | Zinn Education Project

Feb. 19, 1942: Executive Order 9066

Executive Order 9066 issued by President Roosevelt authorized the incarceration (internment) of U.S. citizens of Japanese descent.

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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