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 comes from Ben Miller, an intern with the Exhibits team at the National Archives Museum. On August 31, 1852, Congress appropriated $100,000 to create the government hospital for the insane in Washington, DC. Soon known as St. Elizabeths, the hospital was meant to be a “model institution,” providing the highest quality mental health … Continue reading Treating Race at St. Elizabeths Hospital
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 was written by Bob Nowatzki, Archives Technician in Research Services at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. The early 20th century witnessed the migration of hundreds of thousands of African Americans from the South to the Northeast, Midwest, and West. One of the main causes for this mass migration was the continuing … Continue reading Portal Spotlight: Civil Unrest and the Red Summer
Today’s blog post was written by Michael J. Hancock in Research Services at the National Archives and Records Administration. The 2008 Democratic Presidential run was a watershed moment in American politics. For the first time, a woman and an African American man were the front-runners of a major political party for this nation’s highest office. … Continue reading Shirley Chisholm: Unbought and Unbossed
Written by Michael Hancock There was a time when “freedom of choice” was no choice at all. After the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education (1954) schools were slow to desegregate. New Kent County had two schools that taught students from elementary through high school and prior to 1965, New Kent School’s student body … Continue reading The Gridlock of Racial Segregation: When the Light Turns from Brown to Green
written by Dr. Trichita M. Chestnut, Management and Program Analyst, in the Office of the Chief Operating Officer at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland “…there is no East, no West, no North, no South, but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole, wide world:” ~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sermon at the Marienkirche, … Continue reading “…there is no East, no West..:” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Visits Cold War Berlin
"You can jail a Revolutionary, but you can't jail the Revolution" ~Fred Hampton Fred Hampton was born on August 30, 1948 in Maywood, Illinois. He was gifted in academics and athletics. As a child, he wanted to play for the New York Yankees when he finished school, but ended up studying pre-law at Triton Junior … Continue reading Fred Hampton: Vanguard Revolutionary
