Mary Ellen Pleasant, an African American entrepreneur and abolitionist, is renowned for her efforts in the Underground Railroad and her support of the abolitionist movement. She used her considerable resources…
Category: Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Act of 1871: Combating the Ku Klux Klan
The Civil Rights Act of 1871, enacted by the United States Congress during the turbulent Reconstruction Era, is a landmark in American legislative history. Its passage was prompted by a…
The Niagara Movement, A Precursor to the NAACP
The Niagara Movement, founded in 1905, pioneered the early 20th-century fight for African American civil rights. It set forth a bold and uncompromising vision for equality, advocating for African Americans’…
Remembering Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells, a remarkable figure in American history, was born during slavery in 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Wells’ parents and one brother succumbed to yellow fever. After these…
The Harlem Renaissance Illuminated the richness of the human experience.
A remarkable period in African American History was known as the Harlem Renaissance. This cultural movement, which took place in the 1920s, was a vibrant and transformative period in African…
The Great Migration and Efforts to Suppress It.
The early 20th century was a time when African Americans faced widespread racism, discrimination, and segregation in the Southern United States. During this era, a significant movement known as the…
Selma-to-Montgomery Marches and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Two pivotal events in the American civil rights movement
The 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama became a turning point in the struggle for racial equality, galvanizing support for the civil rights movement and leading to…
The women who stood with Martin Luther King Jr. and sustained a movement for social change
The Conversation March 12, 2023 Historian Vicki Crawford was one of the first scholars to focus on women’s roles in the civil rights movement. Her 1993 book, “Trailblazers and Torchbearers,” dives into…
Remembering Bayard Rustin, Civil Rights Leader and Gay Activist
By: Jerald Podair | Feb 1, 2023 As I began writing “Bayard Rustin: American Dreamer,” my biography of the 20th-century radical leader and activist, one of my colleagues cautioned me not to “fall in love.”…
Black is Beautiful: The Emergence of Black Culture and Identity in the 60s and 70s
“Across this country, young black men and women have been infected with a fever of affirmation. They are saying, ‘We are black and beautiful.’” Hoyt Fuller 1968 The phrase “black…