Today's blog was written by Kaitlin Rogers, Archives Technician at the National Archives at College Park “The Most Dangerous Creation of Any Society is the Man Who has Nothing to Lose.” ~James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924, in Harlem, New York. His mother Emma Berdis Jones married David Baldwin when … Continue reading Happy 100th Birthday James Baldwin!
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” ~Frederick Douglass RG 79 "Fred. Douglass, lawyer, ca. 1865" Washington, DC SP Douglass, Frederick, National Historic … Continue reading Happy Birthday Frederick Douglass!
Cover photo: A Great Day in Hip Hop, Harlem, New York, by Gordon Parks, 1998 This year, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the birth of Hip Hop. Rap, a genre of popular music rooted in funk, disco, and soul that encompasses the cultures of Black and Brown people is one part of Hip Hop … Continue reading “To the Hip Hop and You don’t Stop”: A Tribute for the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop
Today's post was written by Tina L. Ligon, Supervisory Archivist for Augmented Processing and Navy Reference at the National Archives at College “I am pleased to have introduced ‘affirmative action’ into the professional ranks of the National Archives” ~Harold T. Pinkett Harold Pinkett, ca. 1978. (National Archives History Office Collection) Appointed by the Archivist of … Continue reading Creating an Archives with Color: Dr. Harold T. Pinkett and Diversity Efforts in the Archival Profession
On the night of June 17, 1972, security guard Frank Wills was making his usual rounds when he noticed a piece of duct tape covering the lock of the back parking lot door to the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C. As noted in the Security Officer's Log (NAID 304970), he removed the tape, only … Continue reading “Wills on Duty:” The Guard that Discovered the Watergate Break-in
On April 29, 1992, four Los Angeles police officers were acquitted of all charges, in an East Ventura County Courthouse in Simi Valley, for the brutal attack on an unarmed Black motorist. Rodney Glen King was pulled over on March 3, 1991, by two California Highway Patrol Officers, after a high speed chase from an … Continue reading Frustration & Fire: The 1992 Los Angeles Uprising
Today's post was written by Holly Rivet, archival technician at the National Archives in St. Louis. Allen Allensworth, nd (from findagrave) Allensworth, California was the first city to be established as an African American enclave in California. It was officially founded on August 3, 1908 by Colonel Allen Allensworth, Chaplain to the 24th Infantry, a … Continue reading Westerly Winds and Big Skies, Finding Colonel Allen Allensworth at the National Archives
Today's post was written by Netisha Currie, archives specialist at the National Archives at College Park. This article also appeared in Social Education vol. 85, no. 1. **Please note some of the images that are linked from this blog are graphic and disturbing, but we include them as important evidence in the historical record.** Among … Continue reading “The Responsibility is Placed in Your Hands Entirely” – Red Cross Relief after the Tulsa Race Massacre
Today’s post was written by Bob Nowatzki, Archives Technician in Research Services at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. **Please note some of the images are graphic and disturbing, but we include them as important evidence in the historical record.** The Tulsa Race Massacre of May 31-June 1, 1921 was one of the deadliest … Continue reading “Everything was burned down to the ground”: The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
Today's post was written by Billy R. Glasco, Jr., archivist at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. In 1961, the Freedom Riders purposely challenged a system that ignored a series of civil rights cases, ruling segregation of interstate commerce unconstitutional. The legal battles that inspired the Freedom Rides were fought by a World War … Continue reading The People v. Jim Crow: Federal Cases that Inspired the Freedom Rides of 1961
