In 1954, the United States Supreme Court declared public school segregation unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education. One year later, the Court reiterated its ruling, calling on school districts throughout the United States to desegregate their public schools “with all deliberate speed.” While some school districts began developing … Read MoreLittle Rock Crisis, 1957
Image Ownership: Public domain The 13th Street (St.) Colored Branch was a segregated public library established by the city of Meridian, Mississippi, in 1912 and opened in March 1913. It was one of the first free public libraries for African Americans in the state of … Read MoreThe 13th Street Colored Branch Library, Meridian, Mississippi (1913-1974)
Ora Mae Washington was the first prominent African American athlete to dominate two sports, tennis and basketball. Born on January 23, 1898, in Caroline County, Virginia, she was the daughter of James “Tommy” and Laura O. Young-Washington. Washington’s family moved north in search of opportunity … Read MoreOra Washington (1898-1971)
Freedmen’s Town is a nationally registered historical site. The site was originally a community located in the fourth ward of Houston, Texas that began in 1865 as the destination for former enslaved people from surrounding plantations in Texas and Louisiana after the Civil War. Freedmen’s … Read MoreFreedmen’s Town Houston, Texas (1865- )
Image Ownership: Public domain Irene McCoy Gaines was a civil rights activist and a community leader. Born October 25, 1892, in Ocala, Florida, to Charles and Mamie McCoy, she had one older sister who died while Gaines was a child. Her family moved to Chicago, … Read MoreIrene McCoy Gaines (1892-1964)
Black Workers at Hanford, 1944 Image Ownership: Public domain Between the years of 1942 and 1944 around fifteen thousand blacks and fifty thousand whites were recruited to the Manhattan/ Hanford Project in Richland, Washington. The federal government required government contractor, DuPont, to keep the number … Read MoreAfrican Americans and the Manhattan Project, Richland, WA (1942-1945)
Image Ownership: Public domain Born Ruby Jackson on August 31, 1909, Jackson was a wealthy married African American woman in Live Oak, Florida, who was arrested and convicted for killing a prominent white doctor in 1952, who at the time was also a Florida State … Read MoreRuby McCollum (1909-1992)
John and Mary Slaughter, 2017 Image Ownership: Public domain John Slaughter was the first professional employee hired by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to work at the Hanford Energy site in the Tri-Cities, Washington. Very little is known about Slaughter’s childhood beyond his birth in … Read MoreJohn Slaughter (1933- )
Image Ownership: Public domain Labor leader Layle Lane was born on November 27, 1893, in Marietta, Georgia. She was the fourth of five children of Calvin Lane and Alice Virginia Clark Lane. Lane was vice president of the American Federation of Teachers union and a … Read MoreLayle Lane (1893-1976)
Image Ownership: Public domain Julius LeVonne Chambers was a twentieth century African-American civil rights activist and lawyer. Born October 6, 1936, to William and Matilda Chambers in Mt. Gilead, a small town in Montgomery County, North Carolina, he faced segregationist laws from birth. Opportunities for … Read MoreJulius L. Chambers (1936-2013)