Newspaper Articles about African American History

Aug. 1, 1842: Philadelphia Race Riot Erupts
Nov. 26, 1862: Early Civil War Letter from African American Soldier
Jan. 31, 1865: U.S. Congress Passes 13th Amendment to Abolish Slavery
Nov. 3, 1868: A Contested Claim: First African American Elected to Congress?
Feb. 3, 1870: 15th Amendment Ratified: Voting Rights for "Men of Color"
Feb. 25, 1870: Racist Reactions to First Black Senator: Hiram Revels
Dec. 12, 1870: First African American Congressman Elected: Newspapers React
Dec. 9, 1872: Rough Going for First African American Governor
April 13, 1873: Colfax Massacre: Blacks Slaughtered by White Supremacists
May 18, 1896: U.S. Supreme Court Approves Racial Segregation
Feb. 12, 1909: Race Riot Sparks Formation of NAACP
Nov. 14, 1915: Booker T. Washington, African American Educator and Writer, Dies
May 31-June 1, 1921: Tulsa Race Riot Terrorizes Black Neighborhood
March 19, 1941: Tuskegee Airmen’s Example Helps Desegregate the Military
May 17, 1954: Supreme Court Rules against Segregated Public Schools
Dec. 1, 1955: Rosa Parks Arrest Sparks Montgomery Bus Boycott
Feb. 7, 1956: African American Fights Exclusion from Univ. of Alabama
Sept. 24, 1957: U.S. Army Troops Enforce Desegregation of Arkansas High School
Feb. 1, 1960: Lunch Counter "Sit-in" Galvanizes Civil Rights Movement
May 14, 1961: KKK Mob Ambushes Buses, Beats Freedom Riders
May 3, 1963: Birmingham Police Violently Stop Protesting Schoolchildren
Sept. 15, 1963: Anguished Cry: "Oh Jesus, They Bombed Our Church"
March 26, 1964: Malcolm X: Eerie Premonitions of His Own Death
July 2, 1964: President Lyndon Johnson Signs Civil Rights Act of 1964
Dec. 14, 1964: Supreme Court Ruling Upholds 1964 Civil Rights Act
Feb. 21, 1965: Malcolm X Assassinated
Feb. 21, 1965: Malcolm X: Some Details about His Life
March 7, 1965: Police Attack Civil Rights Marchers on "Bloody Sunday"
March 21, 1965: Martin Luther King Jr. Leads Montgomery Civil Rights March
March 21, 1965: More Newspaper Coverage of Selma-to-Montgomery March
Aug. 11, 1965: Watts Riots: 6-Day Rampage in Black Area of L.A.
Aug. 12, 1965: Black Reporter’s Eyewitness Account of Watts Riots
Aug. 14, 1965: Newspaper Editorializes about the "Injury of Innocents" in the Watts Riots
May 22, 1967: “Harlem Renaissance” Author Langston Hughes Dies
June 12, 1967: Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Interracial Marriage
June 13, 1967: Thurgood Marshall Nominated: First Black Supreme Court Justice
Feb. 8, 1968: Orangeburg Massacre: Police Kill Three Black Students in S.C.
April 4, 1968: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated
April 4, 1968: Contrasting Views of Dr. King’s Legacy
Oct. 12-13, 1972: Race Riot on U.S. Carrier Kitty Hawk
Oct. 12-13, 1972: U.S. Navy Responds to Race Riot aboard Carrier Kitty Hawk
April 8, 1974: Aaron Breaks Ruth’s Home Run Record, Speaks His Mind
Nov. 2, 1983: The Controversial Birth of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Feb. 10, 1989: First African American to Lead a Major U.S. Political Party

Click here for newspaper articles about Slavery: Precursor to the Civil War.