Page 2 – Zinn Education Project

Jan. 13, 1777: Petition for Freedom in Massachusetts

A group of African Americans presented a petition for freedom to the Massachusetts Council and the House of Representatives.

Jan. 12, 2010: Earthquake in Haiti

Haiti was hit with a devastating earthquake that took the lives of thousands and displaced even more‪.

Jan. 11, 1912: The Bread and Roses Strike Started

The Bread and Roses Strike began in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Jan. 10, 1966: Voting Rights Activist Vernon Dahmer Murdered

Vernon Dahmer was killed when the Ku Klux Klan fired bombed his home. This was one day after Dahmer offered to pay the election poll tax for anyone who could not afford it.

Jan. 10, 1942: Lee Street Massacre

A month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Black soldiers on R&R in the town of Alexandria, Louisiana were attacked by local and military police, with dozens murdered and countless others injured in this brutal instance of Jim Crow violence.

Jan. 10, 1854: Woman Jailed for Teaching Free Black Children to Read

A judge in Norfolk, Virginia, sentenced a white woman, Margaret Douglass, to one month in jail for teaching free Black children to read.

Julian Bond in Mississippi, 1963 | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Jan. 9, 1967: Julian Bond Sworn in Georgia House of Representatives

Julian Bond was finally sworn in as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives.

Proceedings of the Convention of Colored People Held in Dover, Jan. 9, 1873.

Jan. 9. 1873: Convention of African Americans Discuss Education

During Reconstruction, Delaware’s Convention of Colored People gathered in Dover to discuss and demand state provisions to educate their children.

Jan. 9, 1864: Sgt. William Walker Found Guilty of Mutiny

Sgt. Walker was convicted of mutiny and killed, one of nineteen Union soldiers executed by the Union army for mutiny during the Civil War, fourteen of whom were Black.

Jan. 8, 1811: Louisiana’s Heroic Slave Revolt

The German Coast Uprising was a strategic military assault against white supremacy by hundreds of enslaved Africans.

Zora Neale Hurston | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Jan. 7, 1891: Zora Neale Hurston Born

Zora Neale Hurston, a folklorist, anthropologist, and author, was born in Alabama.

Jan. 7, 1868: Mississippi Constitutional Convention

The Mississippi Constitution was one of the first pieces of legislation that provided a uniform system of free public education for children regardless of race.

Jan. 6, 2021: Attempted Coup in the United States

There was an attack on the U.S. Capitol by an armed white supremacist mob, determined to block the democratic process.

Jan. 6, 1874: Robert B. Elliott Spoke of Need for Civil Rights Act

Rep. Robert B. Elliott gave a speech to advocate for the Civil Rights Act, which passed a year later.

Remember Your Weekly Pledge, collection box for Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. Circa 1850.

Jan. 6, 1832: New England Anti-Slavery Society Founded

The New England Anti-Slavery Society was founded at the African Meeting House in Boston.

Jan. 6, 1811: Charles Sumner is Born

Born on this day in Massachusetts, Charles Sumner was outspoken against slavery, for full recognition of Haiti, against the U.S.-Mexico War, for true reconstruction with land distribution, against school segregation, and much more.

Jan. 5, 2021: Grassroots Organizing Shifts Balance of Power in Senate

In 2021, two new Democratic lawmakers from Georgia were elected to the U.S. Senate, one of whom is only the 11th African American senator in U.S. history.

Jan. 5, 1997: Guam Commission on Decolonization

Guam established a Commission on Decolonization.

Jan. 5, 1980: Rapper’s Delight

The song “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang (and reportedly Grandmaster Caz) became the first hip hop single ever to reach the Billboard Top 40.

Jan. 5, 1931: Lemon Grove Incident

Mexican-American students were barred from attending their local elementary school. The parents took the school district to court.