Topics
Black and Latina Women’s Educational Activism
Explore Black and Latina women’s education advocacy in New York City from from the late 1800s to the present.
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Boycotting New York’s Segregated Schools
In 1964, New York’s schools were highly segregated and unequal. It was ten years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision that declared school segregation to be unconstitutional. But little had changed in New York City classrooms.
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Joyful Struggle
When you imagine a movement or a protest, what do you see? These primary sources show joy, play, pride, and beauty in Black and Latinx communities and in disabled people’s communities and help us think about how joy can be political.
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Seeking Equity for Disabled Students
For disabled children in New York City, exclusion and segregation have been common experiences, but people with disabilities, parents, and educators, have pushed for change.
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How did NYC segregate its schools?
Coming soon!
Who governs NYC schools?
Coming soon!
NY State ends legal school segregation
New York State makes it illegal for its school districts to divide Black and white students into separate schools.
NAACP Forms Youth Councils
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) forms a youth council at various local branches, including New York City.
Planned March on Washington
A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin organize a March on Washington to protest discrimination in defense industries during World War II. Randolph and Rustin called off the march after President Roosevelt signed an executive order barring discrimination in defense industries
Brown v. Board of Education
Supreme Court rules segregated schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education.
Harlem Nine Boycott
Harlem Nine, nine mothers of children in schools in Harlem, boycott their children’s schools because they are segregated and unequal. The city attempts to incarcerate the Harlem Nine for their activism.
Memorandum to Counselors
Camp Jened helped its counselors learn to support disabled campers.
Parents’ Workshop for Equality
Parents’ Workshop for Equality is founded by Reverend Milton Galamison
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
More than 200,000 people congregated in Washington D.C. in support of civil rights and full employment.
“Freedom Day” School Boycott
An estimated 464,000 young people - roughly half of New York City’s public school students - boycott their school in protest of segregation and inequality
Second School Boycott
A second boycott draws fewer participants than the “Freedom Day” boycott.
“Harlem Six” arrested
“Harlem Six” teens arrested and accused of participating in a “Fruit Riot” and, later, in a murder.
1964 Civil Rights Act
President Lyndon Johnson signs into law the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The landmark legislation prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. However, northern legislators in Congress ensured that the legislation would not upend segregation in the North.
“Operation Shutdown” organizing begins
“Operation Shutdown” organizing begins, led by Reverend Milton Galamison.
“Operation Shutdown” ends
Reverend Milton Galamison ends “Operation Shutdown.
