“To the Hip Hop and You don’t Stop”: A Tribute for the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop

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

“Wills on Duty:” The Guard that Discovered the Watergate Break-in

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

view of Black students sitting closely together in crowded classroom

Equalization and its Role in Dismantling Racial Segregation in Virginia Public Schools

Today's post was written by Grace Schultz, archivist at the National Archives at Philadelphia. A companion lesson plan can be viewed in DocsTeach. The fight to desegregate schools started long before the Supreme Court’s decision in Oliver Brown, et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, et al. (NAID 561058), and it continues today. As … Continue reading Equalization and its Role in Dismantling Racial Segregation in Virginia Public Schools

man sits in chair while Black medical staff holds a stethescope to chest, Red Cross workers stand in background

“The Responsibility is Placed in Your Hands Entirely” – Red Cross Relief after the Tulsa Race Massacre

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

After the 19th Amendment: Women in the US Virgin Islands Secure the Vote

Today’s post was written by Jennifer Johnson, curator for Museum Programs at the National Archives in Kansas City. When the People of the United States adopted the Nineteenth Amendment and declared that neither the United States nor any State can deny or abridge the right to vote on account of sex, they clearly established as a … Continue reading After the 19th Amendment: Women in the US Virgin Islands Secure the Vote

The Gridlock of Racial Segregation: When the Light Turns from Brown to Green

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

Fred Hampton: Vanguard Revolutionary

"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

Early Civil Rights Protest and the Steamer Sue Case

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

Keyes v. School District Number One, Denver, Colorado; Eliminating the “Root and Branch” of School Segregation

Today's post was written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver The stark, black and white Denver Post photograph one finds online is startling; in it two firemen are sweeping broken glass from a window shattered by a pipe bomb while Wilfred Keyes and his wife, just shadows in the dark of … Continue reading Keyes v. School District Number One, Denver, Colorado; Eliminating the “Root and Branch” of School Segregation

Resurrection City: The Continuation of King’s Dream

Today's blog was written by Tina L. Ligon, Supervisory Archivist in Textual Processing at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland The boycotts, protests, and marches of the 1950s and 1960s contributed to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act (1965). These pieces of legislation assisted with the … Continue reading Resurrection City: The Continuation of King’s Dream