Ase. We have come to a close of the first week of Black History Month 2021. This year, the Say it Loud! Employee Affinity Group is hosting a Black History Basic Training (inspired by GirlTrek campaigns from the past year), where we highlight individuals, organizations and events that made significant contributions to the African American … Continue reading 2021 Black History Basic Training, Week 1
On December 20, 1958, Bruce Carver Boynton, a black law student at Howard University was on his way home to Selma, Alabama via Trailways bus line for the Christmas Holidays. On his way home, Boynton bus stopped in Richmond, Virginia for a forty-minute layover. Trailways Bus Terminal in Richmond, VA, 1960 (Courtesy of The Library … Continue reading Bruce Boynton: The Original Freedom Rider
The Selma Marches were a series of three marches that took place in 1965 between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. These marches were organized to protest the blocking of Black Americans' right to vote by the systematic racist structure of the Jim Crow South. With the leadership of groups such as the Dallas County Voters League (DCVL), the Student … Continue reading Selma: The Marches that Changed America
Today's post was written by Joshua Schroeder, archives technician at the National Archives in College Park. The National Archives latest Black History portal delves into one of the most important threads of American history: securing the right to vote. Suffrage for Black Americans remains an important aspect of American history because voting is an essential … Continue reading Portal Spotlight: Voting Rights
Today's post was written by Joshua Schroeder, archives technician at the National Archives at College Park. On September 6th, 1950, Secretary of the Interior Oscar Chapman triumphantly reported to President Harry Truman that Washington, D.C.’s public pools had been successfully and peacefully integrated. A body of digitized records from the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library … Continue reading “It Is Our Earnest Hope That You Will Give Every Support to Our Plea for Democracy in the Nation’s Capital:” Ending Jim Crow in Washington, D.C.’s Public Pools
“It’s about life, and who you are as a human being. Today is a sad day in that we lost two of the most powerful activists we’ve ever had – C.T. Vivian and John Lewis. The impact they had on America is unbelievable…” ~Chris Paul On July 17, 2020, two icons of the Civil Rights … Continue reading In the Long Tradition of Civil Rights: Tribute to C. T. Vivian and John Lewis
Today's post was written by Daniella Furman, an Archivist in Research Services at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. When I started researching the 1964 Freedom Summer Movement a few weeks ago, I thought it would be an interesting project to expand my knowledge about that important moment in history 56 years ago. Never … Continue reading Freedom Summer, 56 Years Later
Today's post is written by Edward J.K. Gitre, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of History at Virginia Tech and Director of The American Soldier in World War II Project. "Colored soldiers is not treated worth a dam [sic] in Louisiana. They don't have no rights and no say-so!... One of us colored soldiers got on the city … Continue reading An Uncensored Digital History of the Black GI in World War II
Today's post is written by Dr. Dennis Patrick Halpin, an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech whose research examines how race, class, and gender shaped the 19th and 20th century urban experience in the United States. He's been conducting research at the National Archives at Philadelphia, focused primarily on the records of the United States District Court … Continue reading Early Civil Rights Protest and the Steamer Sue Case
November 18, 2018 marked 40 years since the passing of 918 people in the jungles of Guyana. While debate still exists as to whether or not the event was one of mass suicide or mass murder, the event was a tragedy resulting in the greatest single loss of American civilian life until the events of … Continue reading Remembering Jonestown 40 Years Later
