A Place in History: Historical Perspective on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
by James Oliver Horton
Read about the historical context for the formation of the modern civil rights movement and leadership.
Different Perspectives on the Civil Rights Movement
by Anthony J. Badger
Read about the different ways historians have challenged the dominant narrative of the Civil Rights movement since the 1960s.
The Civil Rights Act and the Pursuit of Greater Freedom
by Charles W. McKinney
Read about civil rights protests in the small town of Wilson, North Carolina, in the 1960s.
The Black Middle Class Needs Attention Too
2020
Read excerpts and view charts from a report on the state of the Black middle class.
Diversity in Contemporary Black Communities
by Mamadi Corra
Learn more about shifts in the foreign-born Black population and its consequent impacts on the diversity of African Americans today.
“We're the Only Colored People Here”
1945
Read a short story that would grow into Gwendolyn Brooks’s novel Maud Martha (1953).
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
1945
View this photograph of Black women serving in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II.
FDR on Racial Discrimination
1942
Read a transcription and a bit of historical context behind Franklin D. Roosevelt’s letter to Joseph Curran concerning Executive Order 8802 and discrimination against Black sailors.
Civil Rights Posters
1968
Explore the historical context behind two posters from the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers' strike.
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