Niagara Movement (1905-1909)

The Niagara Movement was a civil rights group organized by W.E.B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter in 1905.  After being denied admittance to hotels in Buffalo, New York, the group of twenty-nine business owners, teachers, and clergy who comprised the initial meeting gathered at … Read MoreNiagara Movement (1905-1909)

Scottsboro Boys Trial and Defense Campaign (1931–1937)

The Scottsboro Boys were nine young black men, falsely accused of raping two white women on board a train near Scottsboro, Alabama in 1931. Convicted and facing execution, the case of Charlie Weems, Ozie Powell, Clarence Norris, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Haywood Patterson, Eugene Williams, … Read MoreScottsboro Boys Trial and Defense Campaign (1931–1937)

Congress of Racial Equality (1942)

The Congress of Racial Equality pioneered direct nonviolent action in the 1940s before playing a major part in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.  Founded by an interracial group of pacifists at the University of Chicago in 1942, CORE used nonviolent tactics … Read MoreCongress of Racial Equality (1942)

Victoria Earle Matthews (1861-1907)

Victoria Earle Smith was an accomplished journalist, author, lecturer, clubwoman, social worker, and missionary.  She was born on May 27, 1861 in Fort Valley, Georgia, to Caroline Smith, a slave, and a man who was believed to be the family’s master.  Caroline fled the plantation … Read MoreVictoria Earle Matthews (1861-1907)