Category Archives: African-American Civil Rights

LBJ talks Vietnam, presses programs 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 17 1968)

1960s, African-American Civil Rights, U.S. Presidents, Vietnam War


Video: 'President Johnson's 1968 State of the Union Address, 1/17/68. MP200.'

(Wednesday, January 17, 1968, 9:05 p.m. EST; during the Vietnam War and the African-American civil rights movement (1954–1968)) — U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson said tonight he’s not yet satisfied that Hanoi had met his requirements for a bombing halt of North Vietnam and he outlined an expanded program of legislation for the cities and the hard-core unemployed, in his 1968 State of the Union Address. Continue reading LBJ talks Vietnam, presses programs 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 17 1968) →

Jimmy ‘The Greek’ Snyder fired for racial remarks 30 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 16 1988)

1980s, African-American Civil Rights, Television 1980s


Video: 'Jimmy The Greek Ruins His Career'

(Saturday, January 16, 1988) —Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder was dismissed by CBS Sports today, one day after the veteran commentator made derogatory racial comments about athletes. Continue reading Jimmy ‘The Greek’ Snyder fired for racial remarks 30 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 16 1988) →

King celebrates 39th birthday 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 15 1968)

1960s, African-American Civil Rights


Video: 'Eyes On The Prize - (Part 10) The Promised Land 1967–1968' (Jan. 15, 1968, at 18:02)

(Monday, January 15, 1968, 2:00 p.m. EST; during the African-American civil rights movement (1954–1968)) — Civil Rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., recruiting volunteers and raising money for the Poor People’s Campaign, took a few minutes today to celebrate his 39th (and as it turned out, his final) birthday today at a surprise party at Ebenezer Baptist’s old educational building in Atlanta. Continue reading King celebrates 39th birthday 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 15 1968) →

Supreme Court orders Oklahoma to admit African-Americans to law school 70 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD

1940s, African-American Civil Rights


Video: 'A Tribute to Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher'

(Monday, January 12, 1948) — The U.S. Supreme Court, in Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, unanimously ruled today that state law schools could not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race, ordering the admission of Ada Lois Sipuel, a 24-year-old African-American. Continue reading Supreme Court orders Oklahoma to admit African-Americans to law school 70 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD →

‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ premieres in New York City 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 11 1967)

1960s, African-American Civil Rights, Movies 1960s


Video: 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' trailer

(Monday, December 11, 1967, 8:30 p.m. EST) — An aging white couple’s liberal principles are tested when their daughter announces her engagement to an African-American doctor in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, an American comedy-drama film that premiered tonight at the Victoria Theater in New York City. Continue reading ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ premieres in New York City 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 11 1967) →

Seven found guilty in ‘Mississippi Burning’ trial 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 20 1967)

1960s, African-American Civil Rights


Image: Neshoba County Sheriff Lawrence A. Rainey, right, and deputy Cecil Price, center, pass a Meridian policeman en route to court on Oct. 11, 1967.

(Friday, October 20, 1967, 9:12 a.m. CDT; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — A federal jury of white Mississippians convicted Mississippi Deputy Sheriff Cecil R. Price and six other defendants today in Meridian, Mississippi, for participating in a Ku Klux Klan conspiracy to murder three young civil rights workers in 1964 in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Continue reading Seven found guilty in ‘Mississippi Burning’ trial 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 20 1967) →

Thurgood Marshall sworn-in as first African-American justice on U.S. Supreme Court 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 2 1967)

1960s, African-American Civil Rights, U.S. Presidents


Video: '"Thurgood Marshall Nominated to Supreme Court" (Washington DC, 6/13/1967)'

(Monday, October 2, 1967, morning EDT; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — Thurgood Marshall was sworn in today by Chief Justice Earl Warren as the first black U.S. Supreme Court justice in the nation’s history. Continue reading Thurgood Marshall sworn-in as first African-American justice on U.S. Supreme Court 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 2 1967) →

U.S. Army troops escort ‘Little Rock Nine’ to school 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 25 1957)

1950s, African-American Civil Rights, U.S. Presidents


Video: 'Eyes On The Prize - (Part 2) Fighting Back 1957–1962' (Sept. 25, 1957, at 18:36)

(Wednesday, September 25, 1957, 9:25 a.m. CDT; during the Little Rock Crisis, part of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–1968)) — Nine black students who’d been forced to withdraw from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, because of unruly white crowds were escorted to class this morning by members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division without serious disorder. Continue reading U.S. Army troops escort ‘Little Rock Nine’ to school 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 25 1957) →

White mob forces nine black pupils to leave school 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 23 1957)

1950s, African-American Civil Rights


Video: 'Eyes On The Prize - (Part 2) Fighting Back 1957–1962' (Sept. 23, 1957, at 14:22)

(Monday, September 23, 1957, noon CDT; during the Little Rock Crisis, part of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–1968)) — A mob of belligerent, shrieking and hysterical white demonstrators forced the withdrawal today of nine African-Amerian students from Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. Continue reading White mob forces nine black pupils to leave school 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 23 1957) →

Arkansas troops bar African-American pupils 60 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 4 1957)

1950s, African-American Civil Rights


Video: 'Eyes On The Prize - (Part 2) Fighting Back 1957–1962' (Sept. 4, 1957, at 8:29)

(Wednesday, September 4, 1957; during the Little Rock Crisis, part of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–1968)) — Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard today to prevent African-American students from enrolling in the all-white Little Rock Central High School, citing “imminent danger of tumult, riot and breach of peace and the doing of violence to persons and property.” Continue reading Arkansas troops bar African-American pupils 60 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 4 1957) →