Video: 'Lurleen Wallace 1966 Campaign for Governor and Inaugural'
(Monday, January 16, 1967) — Lurleen Wallace became Alabama’s first woman governor today, replacing her term-limited husband, George Wallace, and immediately pledged that she would carry on his fight against racial integration and “federal bureaucracy” while he sought the presidency. Continue reading George Wallace’s wife Lurleen replaces husband as Alabama governor 50 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 16 1967)
Video: 'Browder v Gayle: The Most Important Civil Rights Case You Never Heard Of'
(Tuesday, November 13, 1956; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — In Browder v. Gayle, the U.S. Supreme Court today struck down state and municipal laws requiring segregation of races on public city and state buses in Montgomery, Alabama, leading to the end of the Montgomery Bus Boycott on Dec. 20, 1956, after 381 days. Continue reading U.S. Supreme Court rules segregated public transportation unconstitutional 60 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 13 1956)
Video: '‘The biggest news in the country!’ / Lawrence O’Donnell, Edward Brooke'
(Tuesday, November 8, 1966, during the United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 1966) — Edward W. Brooke today became the first black candidate to be elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote by defeating former Governor Endicott Peabody with 1,213,473 votes to 744,761. Continue reading Edward Brooke becomes first African-American elected to U.S. Senate by popular vote 50 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 8 1966)
Video: 'The Black Panther Party Documentary'
(Saturday, October 15, 1966) — The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense), a revolutionary black nationalist and socialist organization, was founded today by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California. Continue reading Black Panther Party founded in Oakland 50 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 15 1966)
Video: 'James Meredith Shot During the March Against Fear'
(Monday, June 6, 1966, 4:15 p.m. CST/6:15 p.m. EDT; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — James Meredith, the African-American who desegregated the University of Mississippi in 1962, was shot in the back today as he walked along United States Highway 51 two miles south of Hernando, Mississippi. Continue reading James Meredith shot and wounded during civil rights walk into Mississippi 50 years ago this hour (June 6 1966)
Video: 'Robert F. Kennedy: Day of Affirmation Address in South Africa (aka 'Ripple of Hope') - FULL'
(Monday, June 6, 1966, evening SAST; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY) addressed members of the National Union of South African Students tonight at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, on the University’s “Day of Reaffirmation of Academic and Human Freedom.”
In the speech, Kennedy talked about individual liberty, apartheid, and the need for civil rights in the United States at a time when the American civil rights movement was ongoing.
Video: 'Plessy v. Ferguson'
(Monday, May 18, 1896) — The U.S. Supreme Court, in Plessy v. Ferguson, today upheld the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of “separate but equal.”
The decision was handed down by a vote of 7 to 1 with the majority opinion written by Justice Henry Billings Brown and the dissent written by Justice John Marshall Harlan.
The concept was renounced 58 years later in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
(Tuesday, March 13, 1965; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — 16-year-old Lawrence Wallace Bradford Jr. was appointed today by New York Republican Jacob Javits to be the first black page of the U.S. Senate.
Video: 'Eyes on the Prize (VI) — Bridge to Freedom, 1965 [with English subtitles]' (Mar. 25, 1965, at 54:24)
(Sunday, March 25, 1965, evening; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — Viola Liuzzo, a white mother of five from Detroit who had come to Alabama to support voting rights for blacks, was shot and killed by Ku Klux Klan members tonight as she drove a black volunteer who took part in the Selma to Montgomery march that ended today to the airport.
Video: 'Eyes on the Prize (VI) — Bridge to Freedom, 1965 [with English subtitles]' (Mar. 21, 1965, at 51:25)
(Sunday, March 25, 1965, shortly afternoon; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — Martin Luther King, Jr. and 25,000 civil rights activists successfully ended a 5-day march to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks from Selma, Alabama, to the capitol in Montgomery today, declaring: Continue reading King leads 25,000 civil rights activists to Alabama state capitol 50 years ago this afternoon (Mar 25 1965)
