The Bloody Sunday Attack at Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, is a signature event from the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. It proved important enough to feature in a Hollywood movie, Selma, that appeared over the winter of 2014-15. While the Bloody Sunday attack at Pettus Bridge is famous, the person for whom […]
Category: Civil Rights Movement
What Are Some Frederick Douglass Books? Works By A Great American
When it comes to Frederick Douglass books, many of us remember his autobiography. It is one of the most famous autobiographies in US history. When I taught American History in college, I had my students read it each year. If you need a reminder, Frederick Douglass was the most famous African American in the United […]
The Orangeburg Massacre – One More Killing the US Has Forgotten
My last post described the sit-in movement that began in Orangeburg, South Carolina in 1960. Today’s post is the story of how participation in the civil rights movement grew deadly, resulting in the Orangeburg Massacre in 1968. It ranks among the greatest losses of life of any event in the civil rights movement. Events Leading […]
The Orangeburg Sit-Ins – Revealing More Racist Injustice in America
The year 1960 was an important one throughout the South. It witnessed the beginning of the sit-in movement. Sit-ins began in Greensboro, North Carolina. They spread quickly and eventually included such places as Rock Hill and Orangeburg in South Carolina. What happened in the Orangeburg sit-ins sheds light on many key aspects of the Civil […]
The Carroll County Courthouse Massacre – Its Startling, Tragic End
It’s true I write about civil rights on my blog often. This entry on the Carroll County Courthouse Massacre (Carroll County, Mississippi) is in that vein, too. Why? Because most readers have no idea how deeply-rooted this issue is in American history. The country has witnessed far more massacres and killings than most of us […]
Grace Lorch Helps Elizabeth Eckford
It’s unlikely you’ve heard of Grace Lorch. Unless you are a serious student of Arkansas history, her name likely doesn’t register. But when Grace Lorch helps Elizabeth Eckford in 1957, she changed history. Grace Lorch is a superb example of how regular people, almost unknown today, contributed to the Civil Rights Movement. The main event […]