Laws & Citizen Rights Archives

Dec. 15, 1791: Bill of Rights Ratified

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, known as the United States Bill of Rights, were ratified.

April 26, 1937: Supreme Court Strikes Down Insurrection Statute

A Black labor organizer’s imprisoned for having “communist literature” was freed following a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Japanese American Internment Featured Image

A Lesson on the Japanese American Incarceration

Teaching Activity. By Mark Sweeting. Rethinking Schools. 4 pages.
How one teacher engaged his students in a critical examination of the language used in textbooks to describe the Japanese American incarceration.

Sylvia & Aki

Book — Historical fiction. By Winifred Conkling. 2011. 160 pages.
Based on the true story of two girls who meet in 1940s California and a landmark lawsuit on education.

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.

Jan. 15, 1979: Supreme Court Affirms Voting Rights of College Students

In Symm v. United States — a case that addresses the 26th Amendment — the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to prevent college students from voting where they attended school.

The People’s Historian: The Outsized Life of Howard Zinn

Book — Non-fiction. By Dave Zirin. 2026. 400 pages.
A biography of iconic radical historian Howard Zinn, examining his life and work as a progressive icon and thought leader through the story of the times that shaped him and the world.

Stitching Freedom

Book — Non-fiction. By Gary Tyler with Ellen Bravo. 2025. 288 pages.
In the tradition of books by Albert Woodfox and Angela Davis, this memoir of a wrongful conviction and time spent on death row in Angola prison shows how incarcerated people care for each other and fight for justice.

Oct. 16, 1776: Petition for Religious Freedom

In Virginia, under threat of persecution, Baptists preached and petitioned for freedom of religion to be carved into law.

Dec. 18, 1786: United Indian Nations Demand U.S. Government Stop Seizing Land

Indigenous tribes formed the United Indian Nations to put a stop to U.S. government seizures of Native lands.

Woman screaming at Elizabeth Ann Eckford | Zinn Education Project

“A School Year Like No Other”: Eyes on the Prize: “Fighting Back: 1957-1962”

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 7 pages.
A companion lesson to the Eyes on the Prize segment on school desegregation.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Feb. 26, 2012: Trayvon Martin Murdered

Trayvon Martin, a Black teenager, was murdered. The death of Martin and acquittal of the man who shot him sparked the national and global Movement for Black Lives.

June 29, 1820: The Antelope Ship Arrived in Savannah

Two hundred and eighty one Africans aboard The Antelope ship were brought to Savannah by the U.S. Treasury.

Hiram Rhodes Revels (photo) | Zinn Education Project

Jan. 20, 1870: Hiram Rhodes Revels Elected to U.S. Senate During Reconstruction

Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African American to be elected to serve in the U.S. Senate.

A sign near the Liberty Bell tells the story of Ona Judge. Independence Historical Park, Philadelphia.

May 21, 1796: Ona Judge Escapes Enslavement by President George Washington

Ona Judge escaped enslavement by U.S. President George Washington.

On July 16, 1960, seven students from Sterling High along with college freshman, Jesse Jackson, entered the library and were arrested. This group became known as the Greenville Eight.

July 16, 1960: Greenville Eight Stage Read-In at Local Library

In an act of civil disobedience against the whites-only Greenville County Public Library, eight young Black people entered the library, began reading, and were subsequently arrested. They became known as the Greenville Eight, and the library finally desegregated months later after many legal battles.