Browse Cases

Showing 1-25 of 70 results

Brooklyn College students fight for open admissions, Africana Studies

Country
United States
Time period
April, 1969 to May, 1969
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Ploy Promrat, 21/03/17

The 1960’s saw a surge in activism on college campuses in the United States. One of the fights occurring on college campuses was demands for ethnic studies programs and the admission of more students of color. Brooklyn College students joined this fight in 1969.

Black Students in Texas Desegregate Del Mar College 1951-1952

Country
United States
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Beatriz Grace Baker 05/04/2015

From its founding in 1935 until the early 1950s, Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas accepted only white students. In 1951, when NAACP chapter leader Henry Boyd Hall began work to desegregate the college, community college classes for African American students were held at the city’s Solomon M. Coles High School for Negroes. However, these classes were insufficient in several ways.

Sarasotan Students' school boycott stops neighborhood schools from closing, Florida, United States, 1969

Country
United States
Time period
3 May, 1969 to 9 May, 1969
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Erica Janko 29/03/2015

Before Booker Grammar School, Sarasota’s first Black public school, was established in 1925, Black students received their education at home or in churches. The establishment of three other schools for Black students -- Amaryllis Park for first through third graders, Booker Junior High, for seventh and eighth graders, and Booker High School, for ninth through twelfth graders -- followed. These schools, located centrally within Sarasota’s African-American community, Newtown, became deeply rooted institutions within the community.

Students sit-in, win victory for civil rights, Miami Beach, Florida, March 1960

Country
United States
Time period
March, 1960 to August, 1960
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Erica Janko 20/3/2015

In March 1960, a national wave of sit-in campaigns to desegregate lunch counters and public accommodations  reached Miami. Miami was one of 11 Florida cities where activists organized sit-ins over the months of February and March 1960. On 4 March 1960, students from Florida Memorial College led a sit-in in  in Miami, Florida. Participants included adult ministers. 

Chicano Students Walk Out for Racial Equality in Kingsville, Texas 1969

Country
United States
Time period
April 14, 1969 to April 24, 1969
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
2.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Beatriz Grace Baker 08/02/2015

During the Civil Rights Movement, Mexican-Americans struggled for equal
rights all across the Southwest in America. In Texas, campaigns for
racial equality were led primarily by organizations like La Raza (the
Resistance), MAYO (Mexican-American Youth Organization), PASSO
(Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations), and the Brown
Berets. These organizations struggled for equal rights and privileges
for Mexican-Americans in all facets of society.

African Americans march for civil rights in St. Augustine, Florida, 1963-64

Country
United States
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Erica Janko, 02/02/2015

As the nationwide struggle for civil rights in the United States, led by
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr,  continued into 1964, tension between civil
rights activists and the city government was rising in St. Augustine,
Florida. Public institutions remained segregated, and Klu Klux Klan
violence against African Americans increased, despite activists’
protests and pleas to the government.

Florida wade-ins to end racial segregation of public beach and pools (Civil Rights Movement) 1945-1964

Country
United States
Time period
May, 1945 to July 2nd, 1964
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
6.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jasmine Rashid 1/30/15

In a time that many considered the “post-Jim Crow” era, racial segregation of unequal public facilities remained the norm throughout Florida. First expressed in the Fort Lauderdale Daily News in 1927, African American communities were unhappy with being constrained to a single “colored leisure beach”; an uninhabited and inconvenient strip of land that was inferior to the “white beaches”. It was not until 1945 that African American leaders in Dade County began to plan action to challenge and draw attention to this injustice.

Black students, community, allies begin desegregating Jackson, Mississippi, 1962-1963

Country
United States
Time period
October, 1962 to 18 June, 1963
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kerry Robinson 26/04/2014

Jackson was the largest city in Mississippi in 1960, with 250,000 residents, 50,000 of whom were black. Medgar Evers, a field secretary for the Jackson chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) began to build up NAACP Youth Councils at colleges and high schools in the area since 1961. Since the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) were in other parts of Mississippi, the NAACP was the only consistent nonviolent group in Jackson.

Blacks in Huntsville, Alabama, sit in and win racial desegregation at lunch counters, 1962

Country
United States
Time period
3 January, 1962 to 11 July, 1962
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kerry Robinson 14/04/2014

Huntsville, Alabama, grew quickly during the United States’ Space Race with the Soviet Union. From 1950 to 1960, the population tripled from 16,000 to 72,000, with 30% black citizens. With Redstone Arsenal and the National Aeronautics (NASA) bringing scientists and middle class citizens to Huntsville, the city administration tried to present the city with a progressive image.  However, instead of improving conditions for black citizens, the administration claimed that a racial inequality did not exist.

Black students sit-in for U.S. civil rights, Marshall, Texas, 1960

Country
United States
Time period
26 March, 1960 to 3 April, 1960
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
3 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kerry Robinson 06/04/2014

Marshall, Texas, despite having a black majority, practiced public and private racial segregation like most of the South in the 1950’s. The town included two historically black colleges: Bishop College and Wiley College. 

Black high school students sit-in, desegregate public libraries in Danville, VA, 1960.

Country
United States
Time period
2 April, 1960 to 14 September, 1960
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kerry Robinson, 24/03/2014

Inspired by the February, 1960 launch of the student sit-in movement in Greensboro, North Carolina, high school student Chalmers Mebane decided to stage a sit-in in his city of Danville, Virginia. He and his African American friends collaborated with students on the Youth Council for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to plan a sit-in at a lunch counter at Woolworth’s. 

Black students of Concord, N.C. sit-in for U.S. civil rights, 1960

Country
United States
Time period
12 February, 1960 to 17 August, 1960
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kerry Robinson 02/03/2014

On 12 February 1960, nearly two weeks after sit-ins at Greensboro, North Carolina (the Greensboro Four) began, over 100 students at the historically black school Barber-Scotia College started sit-ins in the lunch counter at Belk’s department store and three other lunch counters in Concord, North Carolina. In addition to sit-ins, the students organized pray-ins, where they gathered for prayer in public areas and places reserved for whites. Aside from white teenage hecklers, the students did not face much initial repression.

Students and allies force racial integration of Glen Echo Park, MD, 1960-1961

Country
United States
Time period
June, 1960 to March, 1961
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Tom McGovern 24/02/2014

In early May and June of 1960, students from Howard University, a historically black college, joined the ongoing civil rights movement by picketing the White House in D.C. and conducting sit-ins and pickets at segregated Woolworth chain stores in the D.C. area. These early actions led by Paul Dietrich, Stokely Carmichael, John Moody, Jan Triggs, Dion Diamond, Gwendolyn Green, Joan Trumpauer, and others spread interest for a more organized form of action by Howard students. 

High Point students protest for theater integration, 1960-1964

Country
United States
Time period
February, 1960 to Late, 1964
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kerry Robinson, 09/02/2014

On 18 February 1960, the High Point Biracial Committee was formed to ease racial tensions in High Point. As the group gained more legitimacy, more facilities desegregated thanks in part to negotiations between the committee and city officials. By 1963, nearly all government and public institutions were integrated. The remaining stronghold of segregation was privately-owned buildings such the town theaters.

High Point high school students sit-in for U.S. civil rights, 1960

Country
United States
Time period
February 11, 1960 to February 18, 1960
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kerry Robinson, 02/02/2014

High Point, North Carolina was a city viewed as progressive on racial relations, but the black community felt alienated as nearly all of High Point’s public institutions were segregated.

On 1 February 1960, a group of four college students began a sit-in at a Woolworth’s in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina. News spread quickly to High Point, about 16 miles away.

Civil Rights activists campaign against de facto segregation in Milwaukee schools, 1964-1966

Country
United States
Time period
January, 1964 to March, 1966
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jonathan White, 17/04/2013

In 1963, nearly
ten years after the Brown vs. Board of
Education court case declared school segregation illegal, de facto rather
than legal segregation remained prevalent in many northern cities of the United
States including Milwaukee.  Milwaukee
had begun “intact busing” of black children to predominately white schools in
1957, where black children were taught in classrooms separate from white
children and were not served in the cafeterias.

Poor People's Campaign demands federal intervention to end poverty, 1968

Country
United States
Time period
April, 1968 to July, 1968
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Ryan Zacharias 04/08/2013

By spring 1967 some of the legal barriers to racial equality in the U.S. had been struck down. The federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities and women, in workplaces and in facilities that serve the general public.  The federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited discrimination in voting.  

U.S. civil rights activists occupy Wisconsin State Capitol to demand human rights act, 1961

Country
United States
Time period
1 June, 1961 to 13 August, 1961
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jonathan White, 17/02/2013

On 1 June 1961, Isaac Coggs, the only African American Member of the Wisconsin legislature, introduced a Humans Rights bill with two civil rights provisions: a fair housing law and a plan to reorganize the Fair Employment Practices Commission. Though Governor Gaylord Nelson supported the bill, it was met with resistance in committee, facing amendments to kill or cripple it. Opponents of the bill argued that real estate
brokers and home sellers should have the right to decide to whom they should sell homes.

Austin, TX, U.S. students sit-in for desegregated lunch counters (Austin Movement), 1959-1961

Country
United States
Time period
April, 1959 to March, 1961
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Lekey Leidecker, 16/09/2012

The University of Texas admitted black graduate students in 1955 and undergraduate students in 1956, but conditions on campus remained unequal. Admission was limited to an educationally elite section of black students. Facilities, such as dorms, were still segregated and of worse quality than the equivalent dorms for white students. Black students were not allowed to participate in athletics or drama. Protests emerged in the early 1960’s to improve these conditions, but after 3 days of picketing, students decided to focus on other ways of addressing discrimination.

Freedom Summer campaign for African American voting rights in Mississippi, 1964

Country
United States
Time period
June, 1964 to August, 1964
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Rachel S Ohrenschall, 19/03/2012

By 1964, a handful of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) field workers had endured three years of continued repression as they challenged Mississippi’s racial discrimination. Only 6.7% of black Mississippians were registered to vote in 1962, the lowest percent in the country. In 1963 SNCC’s Mississippi operation was facing a stalemate. Since arriving in 1961 they had few concrete victories to show for their hard and dangerous work in the state. They had gotten few people to attempt to register, and even fewer were successful.

U.S. civil rights activists campaign for federal government action, 1957-63

Country
United States
Time period
May, 1957 to December, 1963
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
George Lakey, 09/10/2012

In 1957 A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin initiated a campaign to pressure the U.S. government to intervene for the civil rights of African Americans.

Randolph, 68, was the acknowledged “elder” among civil rights leaders, with a base in the labor movement.  Rustin, 57, was a veteran civil rights and peace activist who had coached Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott.

Chestertown, MD, "Freedom Riders" campaign against racial segregation, 1962

Country
United States
Time period
February, 1962 to March, 1962
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Soul Han, 16/09/2012

Chestertown, situated in the Eastern Shore of Maryland, was one of the few northern parts of the U.S. still segregated in the early 1960s. Most African Americans could not vote. Only three black students were enrolled in the local Washington College. Moreover, the only school in Chestertown that accepted black students from the 1st grade to 12th was the Garnett School.

Oklahoma City African Americans sit-in for integration, 1958-64

Country
United States
Time period
19 August, 1958 to 4 July, 1964
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Carmen Smith-Estrada, 12/09/2011

In 1955, just one year after the Supreme Court issued its pivotal Brown v. Board of Education ruling, the country was again shaken by the Montgomery Bus Boycotts (see “African Americans boycott buses for integration in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S., 1955-1956”). The campaign, which targeted the city’s practice of segregation on public transportation, brought leaders such as Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., into the national spotlight.

African Americans boycott buses for integration in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S., 1955-1956

Country
United States
Time period
1 December, 1955 to 20 December, 1956
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Carl E. Sigmond, 29/08/2011

The yearlong boycott of Montgomery, Alabama’s city buses by between 40,000 and 50,000 African American residents was in the works for years before it began in December 1955. At that time in Montgomery, as well as in many cities across the southern United States, laws required African Americans to sit at the back of buses and yield their seats to white passengers if no other seats were available.

Memphis, Tennessee, sanitation workers strike, 1968

Country
United States
Time period
February 12, 1968 to April 16, 1968
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kylin Navarro, 12/09/2010

On February 12, 1968, sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, began a labor strike to protest unfair wages, unsafe working conditions, and the city’s refusal to recognize their sanitation workers union.