African-American History

The Narrative of Sojourner Truth tells the story of a formerly enslaved woman who became a influential abolitionist and women's rights advocate. Written with Olive Gilbert, it details her life in slavery, escape to freedom, and her spiritual awakening as a traveling preacher. The narrative…

Executive Order 10925 was issued by President John F. Kennedy on March 6,1961 and was a significant step in promoting equal employment opportunities in the United States. The order required federal agencies and government contractors to take "affirmative action" to ensure that hiring and…

A foundation document that outlined the rights and freedoms that Black people should be afforded worldwide. This declaration condemned racial oppression and called for the self-determination, equality, and unity of Black people. It's one of the earliest declarations of Black rights predating…

A proposal was made to amend the constitution and eliminate affirmative action programs that gave advantageous treatments to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity, or national origin for jobs, education, or contracting purposes. This ban led to a decline in Black…

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 had established a clear line (36°30′ latitude) across which slavery was prohibited in western territories. However, as westward expansion continued, pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions clashed over whether new territories should permit slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska…

The Emmett Till Antilynching Act of 2021 is a landmark piece of U.S legislation that officially marked lynching as a federal hate crime. The bill was signed into law by President Biden on March 29, 2022; it's seen as a notable step in recognizing and addressing the history of U.S racial…

Loving v. Virginia (1967) was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage. The case arose when Mildred Jeter, a Black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were married in Washington, D.C., in 1958 but were later arrested in their home state of…

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted to eliminate barriers that had long obstructed African Americans from exercising their constitutional right to vote. Discriminatory practices, including literacy tests and poll taxes, were abolished, and federal oversight of voter registration in…

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law, marking a transformative moment in American history. Through its passage, segregation was outlawed in public spaces, and discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin was prohibited. Efforts to dismantle systemic inequality…

Executive Order 9981 was issued by President Harry S. Truman on July 26, 1948 and ordered the desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces. The order established the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, which was responsible for ensuring that all members…

Executive Order 9346 was an expansion to Executive Order 8802 and was to replace the Fair Employment Practices Committee with the more influential Committee of Fair Employment Practice. The goal was to eliminate workplace discriminatory employment practices.

By early 1941, as the United States prepared for World War II, millions of jobs were being created, particularly in urban areas. Many African Americans seized this opportunity, migrating in large numbers to northern and western cities to work in defense industries. However, they were often met with…

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld racial segregation under the doctrine of "separate but equal." The case originated in Louisiana, where state law required separate railway cars for Black and white passengers. Homer Plessy, a man of mixed racial…

The Second Morrill Act of 1890 was a pivotal piece of legislation addressing racial exclusion in higher education, particularly within the Land-grant Universities (LGUs) established under the original Morrill Act of 1862. Before this act, many people of color, especially Black students, were…

President Lincoln addressed the nation in 1862 declaring all enslaved people in rebellious or as we know it, confederate- states free men; it didn't take effect until January 1, 1863. Although this didn’t officially end slavery in the Deep South for many, it became a stepping stone to the…

<p><span class="deck">At Fort Wagner the Negro soldier was asked to prove the worth of the “powerful black hand”</span></p>

<p><span class="deck"><span class="typestyle">The Birth of Jim Crow</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> A Negro cavalry regiment was John J. Pershing’s “home” in the service. From it came his nickname, and he never lost his affection for—or failed to champion—the valorous colored troopers he led.</span> </p>

<p>An African-American physician and his family were arrested for murder in Detroit after defending their home against an angry mob of whites. Then attorney Clarence Darrow came to their defense.</p>

<p>The author and director of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Green Pastures” recalls the struggle to get a play about a black God produced in 1930.</p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> One morning Cadet Johnson Whittaker was found battered and bleeding, trussed to his barracks bed. Who had done it, and why?</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> For some men the only solution to the dilemma of blacks and whites together was for the blacks to go back where they came from</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck">When one weary woman refused to be harassed out of her seat in the bus, the whole shaky edifice of Jim Crow began to totter</span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> The black laborers on John Williams’ plantation never seemed to leave or complain. It took some digging to find out why</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> A TALE OF RECONSTRUCTION<br /><span class="typestyle"> Of the turbulent career of Pinckney B. S. Pinchback, adventurer, operator, and first black governor of Louisiana. He reminds one powerfully, says the author, of the late Adam Clay ton Powell, Jr.</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"><span class="typestyle">Behind-the-scenes records reveal how the Supreme Court reached its fateful desegregation decisions</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> An Interview with</span> Marian Anderson </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"><span class="typestyle">New Light on a Much-Loved Myth</span> </span></p>

<p>In the 19^th Century, white performers invented the minstrel show, the first uniquely American entertainment form</p>
<p> </p>

<p><span class="deck">THE BLACK SLAVE DRIVER</span></p>

<p><span class="deck">How the mistress of the plantation became a slave</span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> A century after passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, many Southern blacks still were denied the vote. In 1965 Martin Luther King, Jr, set out to change that—by marching through the heart of Alabama.</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> Thousands of them sided with Great Britain, only to become the wandering children of the American Revolution</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"><span class="typestyle">Whatever you were taught or thought you knew about the post-Civil War era is probably wrong in the light of recent study</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> Twenty years ago blacks were virtually disenfranchised throughout the South. Now their votes may elect our next President.</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck">This is not a test. It’s the real thing.</span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> You Asked for It</span> </p>

<p>The United States had promised black soldiers that they would be paid as much as whites. Sergeant Walker believed that promise.</p>

<p><span class="deck">30 years ago, John Howard Griffin, a white Texan, became an itinerant Southern black for four weeks. His account of the experience, "Black like Me," galvanized the nation.</span></p>

<p><span class="deck">In an age when the best black artists were lucky to exhibit their work at state fairs, Henry Ossawa Tanner was accepted by the most selective jury in France.</span></p>

<p><span class="deck">In 1932, the Communist International paid to send a cast of American blacks to Moscow to make a movie about American racial injustice. The scheme backfired.</span></p>

<p><span class="body"><span class="body"><span class="pullquote even">A child of the South's "Lost Cause," Truman broke with his convictions to make civil rights a concern of the national government for the first time since Reconstruction. In so doing, he changed the nation forever.</span></span></span></p>

<p><span class="deck">They were the first black men to fight in the Civil War. They were the first to serve alongside whites. And they were the first to die.</span></p>

<p><span class="deck">Deep South states are taking the lead in promoting landmarks of a 300-year heritage of oppression and triumph, and they’re drawing visitors from around the world.</span></p>

<p><span class="deck">The struggles and torments of a forgotten class in antebellum America: black slaveowners</span></p>

<p><span class="deck">QUESTIONING THE MYSTERIES OF HER OWN FAMILY, THE AUTHOR FINDS ANSWERS THAT AFFECT US ALL.</span></p>