Civil Rights

Frederick Douglass once said, “Samuel R. Ward has left no successor among the colored men amongst us, and it was a sad day for our cause when he was laid low in the soil of a foreign country.”

Untold Stories of American History

Frederick Douglass Thought This Abolitionist Was a 'Vastly Superior' Orator and Thinker

A new book offers the first full-length biography of newspaper editor, labor leader and minister Samuel Ringgold Ward

A 1903 photograph of Paul Laurence Dunbar

The Brief but Shining Life of Paul Laurence Dunbar, a Poet Who Gave Dignity to the Black Experience

A prolific writer, he inspired such luminaries as Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes

This cross-section view shows the Lincoln Memorial atop the undercroft, part of which will house a new museum.

The Lincoln Memorial Is Getting a New Underground Museum

Crews are starting work on the $69 million project this month and hope to finish by 2026

President John F. Kennedy meets with William Fitzjohn, Sierra Leone's charge d’affairs in Washington, in the Oval Office on April 27, 1961.

Untold Stories of American History

The African Diplomats Who Protested Segregation in the U.S.

Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy publicly apologized after restaurants refused to serve Black representatives of newly independent nations

Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson at his desk in November 1957

When Lyndon B. Johnson Chose the Middle Ground on Civil Rights—and Disappointed Everyone

Always a dealmaker, then-senator LBJ negotiated with segregationists to pass a bill that cautiously advanced racial equality

In November 1955 at Carnegie Hall, Anderson performed Mozart, Schubert, spirituals and more.

How Marian Anderson Took the World by Storm

Her mighty contralto propelled her across color lines

A poster, boldly declaring "Sí Se Puede. It Can Be Done" and held in the Smithsonian collections, offers a look back to how farm laborers won the right to join and form unions.

Why ‘Sí, Se Puede’ Was the Winning Motto for the United Farm Workers

Their nationwide boycott helped farmworkers win the right to join and form unions

The 1923 Rosewood massacre resulted in the deaths of six Black people and two white vigilantes.

Untold Stories of American History

How History Forgot Rosewood, a Black Town Razed by a White Mob

A century ago, a false accusation sparked the destruction of the Florida community

Exterior of Julius' Bar in New York City's West Village

One of New York City's Oldest Gay Bars Is Now a Historic Landmark

The bar was the site of a "sip-in" in 1966, several years before the Stonewall riots

This year's picks include Half American, Saving Yellowstone and River of the Gods.

The Best Books of 2022

The Ten Best History Books of 2022

Our favorite titles of the year resurrect forgotten histories and illuminate how the nation ended up where it is today

Civil rights activists Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King in 1964

When Julia Roberts Was Born, Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Paid the Hospital Bill

The Roberts family had previously welcomed the Kings' children to their theater school

Protesters attend a rally in support of affirmative action in college admissions on October 31, 2022.

History of Now

The Origins of the Term 'Affirmative Action'

The phrase was first used in early 20th-century employment laws

Pro-choice protesters in 1972

Women Who Shaped History

The Underground Abortion Network That Inspired 'Call Jane'

A new film offers a fictionalized look at the Janes, activists who provided illegal abortions in Chicago before Roe v. Wade

Jalyn Hall (left) as Emmett Till and Danielle Deadwyler (right) as Mamie Till-Mobley in Till, a new movie directed by Chinonye Chukwu

Women Who Shaped History

How Emmett Till's Mother Galvanized the Civil Rights Movement

A new film dramatizes the life of Mamie Till-Mobley, who forced America to confront the brutality of her son's 1955 murder

A photo of Ales Bialiatski on display in the Nobel’s garden at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway

Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Human Rights Activists in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia

Belarus political prisoner Ales Bialiatski, the Russian group Memorial and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties jointly won this year’s award

Sixty unnamed schools are piloting an A.P. African American studies class, which covers 400 years of history.

A.P. African American Studies Is Coming to U.S. High Schools

The course covers everything from slavery to civil rights to pop culture

A monument of civil rights pioneer Elizabeth Freeman in Sheffield, Massachusetts

Untold Stories of American History

How an Enslaved Woman Took Her Freedom to Court

A new statue honors Elizabeth Freeman, who argued against slavery in a Massachusetts legal case

Designer Samantha Black created three special-edition outfits for Claudie.

New American Girl Doll Celebrates Black Joy During the Harlem Renaissance

Nine-year-old Claudie Wells' story unfolds in 1920s New York

Audre Lorde lectures students at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Women Who Shaped History

You May Have Borrowed These Terms from Black Feminism

Two curators have turned co-hosts in the podcast, “Collected,” a six-part examination of the origins of self-care, identity politics, and intersectionality

Jackie Robinson circa 1945

New Museum Honors Jackie Robinson’s Many Legacies

Interactive exhibits will explore the baseball icon’s athletic career and civil rights work

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