What Made Roberto Clemente’s Death Such An Awful Tragedy?

If you are a baseball fan, you know the name Roberto Clemente. If you aren’t, you still need to know his story and why it matters. His life was uplifting to many, yet had a tragic end. Furthermore, the story of Roberto Clemente’s death, and life, reveals much about America during the middle of the […]

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 […]

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 […]

Octavius Catto, Civil Rights Legend

The career of Octavius Catto ranks among the great stories of the United States in the 1800s. This versatile figure came to prominence during and after the Civil War. This was a time of dramatic change in America. Octavius Catto is a second-generation figure in the struggle of African Americans for equality in the United […]

Thaddeus Stevens, the Man Who Should be an Icon

It’s unlikely you know much about Thaddeus Stevens. Unless you enjoyed his portrayal by Tommy Lee Jones in the 2012 movie Lincoln, you may not recognize his name at all. This is unfortunate and deserves to be rectified. Thaddeus Stevens is, in fact, one of the great American statesman of the mid-19th century. Before the […]