Zinn Education Project

Jan. 23, 1964: 24th Amendment on Poll Tax Ratified

The 24th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified.

Jan. 23, 1963: Patricia Stephens Due Arrested in Florida

Patricia Stephens Due is arrested by the police in the segregated lobby of the Florida Theater in Tallahassee.

Jan. 23, 1957: Klan Forces Man to Jump from Bridge

Mr. Willie Edwards Jr., a 24-year-old African American man, was murdered by members of the Alabama KKK.

Jan. 23, 1935: Robert Parris Moses Born

Lifelong organizer in SNCC and with the Algebra Project, Robert Parris Moses, was born on this day in Harlem, New York.

Jan. 23, 1873: Jonathan C. Gibbs Named Florida Superintendent of Public Instruction

One of the most prominent Black officeholders in Florida during the Reconstruction era, Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs held the positions of Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Jan. 22, 1964: Freedom Day in Hattiesburg

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) voting rights campaign held a Freedom Day in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Jan. 22, 1932: La Matanza (“The Massacre”) Begins in El Salvador

The government of El Salvador launched a murderous, anti-indigenous and anti-leftist campaign that led to the deaths of 30,000 Salvadorans.

National Memorial for Peace and Justice (photo) | Zinn Education Project

Jan. 22, 1912: Hamilton, Georgia Lynching

Four African Americans (including one minister and three farmers; one of the farmers was a woman) were lynched in Hamilton, Georgia.

The North Star (News Clipping) | Zinn Education Project

Jan. 21, 1848: North Star Publishes Editorial on War with Mexico

The North Star published an editorial against the U.S. war with Mexico. Listen to an excerpt read by Benjamin Bratt.

Parade in San Francisco for the first national Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1986.

Jan. 20, 1986: First National Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday

The United States celebrated its first national Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, three years after the holiday was signed into law and eighteen years after the fight for a King holiday began.

Hiram Rhodes Revels (photo) | Zinn Education Project

Jan. 20, 1870: Hiram Rhodes Revels Elected to U.S. Senate During Reconstruction

Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African American to be elected to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Julian Bond 1967 | Zinn Education Project

Jan. 19, 1966: Georgia State House Refused to Seat Julian Bond

The Georgia State House of Representatives refused to seat elected state representative Julian Bond due to his public statements against the Vietnam War.

Eartha Kitt at White House (photo) | Zinn Education Project

Jan. 18, 1968: Eartha Kitt Spoke Truth at the White House

When asked at a White House luncheon about “juvenile delinquency,” Eartha Kitt responded by talking about the root causes of rebellion, including the Vietnam War and the draft.

Jan. 18, 1943: Jewish Resistance in Warsaw Ghetto

Jews in the Warsaw ghetto organized armed self-defense units to oppose deportations to forced-labor camps and to the Treblinka extermination camp.

Lumumba at the 1960 Round Table conference | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Jan. 17, 1961: Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was Executed

Prime minister of the Republic of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, was executed with the assistance of the governments of Belgium and the United States.

Jan. 17, 1893: Queen Lili`uokalani of Hawai`i is Overthrown

Queen Lili`uokalani of the independent kingdom of Hawai`i was overthrown as she was arrested at gunpoint by U.S. Marines.

Special Field Order No. 15 | Zinn Education Project

Jan. 16, 1865: Special Field Order No. 15

Demands by Black ministers after the Ebenezer Creek Massacre led to the short-lived land distribution during Reconstruction known as Special Field Order No. 15.

Jan. 15, 1817: The Vote on Colonization of Free Blacks in West Africa

Nearly 3,000 African American men met at the Bethel A.M.E. Church and denounced the American Colonization Society’s proposal to resettle free African Americans in West Africa.

Radical members of the first South Carolina legislature after the war.

Jan. 14, 1868: South Carolina Constitutional Convention

The South Carolina constitutional convention met with a majority of Black delegates, adopting a constitution that provided for all people regardless of race, economic class, or gender.

The NYC Tompkins Square Riot (art) | Zinn Education Project

Jan. 13, 1874: The New York City Tompkins Square Riot

The New York City Tompkins Square Riot occurred during a devastating economic depression.