People, Locations, Episodes

Kathleen Cleaver, Black Panther Activist and Educator born

Kathleen Cleaver was born on this date in 1945. She is an African American educator, lawyer, writer, and activist.

Born in Dallas Texas, Kathleen Neal Cleaver’s father was a sociology professor at Wiley College and her mother held a degree in Mathematics. With her father’s work, the family spent many of her early years abroad in Liberia, the Philippines, and Sierra Leone. Cleaver completed high school at the Georgia School in Philadelphia in 1963.

Alan Page, Athlete, and Judge born

*Alan Page was born on this date in 1945. He was an African American football player and is a lawyer and state Supreme Court Judge, and education activist.

Barney Pityana, African Policy Advocate born

*Barney Pityana was born on this date in 1945. He is a Black South African human rights lawyer, activist, and theologian. Nyameko Barney Pityana was born in Uitenhage and attended the University of Fort Hare. He was one of the founding members of the South African Students’ Organisation (SASO) of the Black Consciousness Movement with Steve Biko […]

The Women’s Political Council is Formed

*The Woman’s Political Council (WPC) was organized on this date in 1946. Founded in Montgomery, Alabama, it was an early force active in the 20th-century American Civil Rights movement, formed to address the racial issues in the city. WPC’s founding members included Mary Fair Burks, Jo Ann Robinson, Irene West, Thelma Glass, and Euretta Adair. The […]

Morgan v. Virginia is Ruled

On this date in 1946, the U. S. Supreme Court decided Morgan v. Virginia, a landmark case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that segregation in interstate bus travel was unconstitutional.

Lee Roy Young, Law Enforcement Officer born

*Lee Roy Young was born on this date in 1947. He was a Black law enforcement officer, Texas Ranger.   Lee Roy Young was born in Del Rio, TX. After graduating high school, he served four years in the United States Navy from 1966 to 1970. After being discharged from the Navy, he earned an […]

Shelly v. Kraemer is Ruled

*On this date in 1948, the United States Supreme Court rendered its landmark decision in Shelley v. Kraemer. Holding, by a vote of 6 to 0 (with three judges not sitting), the court ruled that courts cannot enforce racially restrictive covenants since this would constitute state action denying due process of law in violation of […]

Clarence Thomas, Conservative Judge born

Clarence Thomas was born on this date in 1948. He is an African American lawyer and associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Thomas was born in the Pin Point, GA, community near Savannah. His father left his family when he was two years old. His mother was eventually unable to make ends meet and he then was raised by his grandfather.

Brown v. Baskin is Ruled

*On this date in 1948, Brown v. Baskin was ruled.  This was one of the legal building blocks against voter suppression against Black citizens in the United States.  One month after the South Carolina General Assembly repealed all statutes related to party primaries in the state to maintain its white primary, Black leaders formed the […]

Janice Brown, Lawyer and Judge born

*Janice Rogers Brown was born on this date in 1949. She is an African American judge.

From Laverne, Alabama, she attended segregated schools because there was no other opportunity for her to receive an education. She says, her family believed that change would come. At an early age, Rogers witnessed the day in 1954 when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision on the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. She recalls seeing her grandmother running across the street from her uncle’s house shouting, “They did it! Thank God, they did it!”

Webb v. School District No. 90 is decided

*On this date in 1949, Webb v. School District No. 90 was decided. This Supreme Court case involved 39 Black students fighting for educational rights. Background Population growth after World War II prompted the construction of a new $90,000 South Park Elementary School near Merriam, Kansas. The district school board had unlawfully established the Walker […]

The ‘Groveland Four’ Case Begins

*On this date in 1949, the episode and legal case of the “Groveland Four” began. This was a wrongful arrest, murder, and conviction of four young Black men.  The episode played out when Norma Padgett, a 17-year-old white woman, and her husband Willie said that on that date, they had been attacked by four young Black […]

Lani Guinier, Lawyer, and Educator born

Lani Guinier was born on this date in 1950.

Briggs v. Elliott is Filed

On this date in 1950, Briggs v. Elliott, a civil Rights case was filed. This legal maneuver assisted the groundwork for Brown v. the Board of Education 4 years later, was filed.

McLaurin v. Oklahoma Board of Regents is Ruled

* On this date 1950, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that separate but equal conditions were unattainable in graduate and professional education in the McLaurin v. Oklahoma Board of Regents.