People, Locations, Episodes

Gabon Gains Independence From France

*On this date in 1960, Gabon gained its independence from France. Officially the Gabonese Republic they are a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Originally settled by Pygmy peoples, they were absorbed into the Bantu tribes as they migrated. By the 18th century, a Myeni-speaking kingdom known as the Kingdom of Orungu formed […]

‘Ax Handle Saturday,’ a story

*On this date in 1960, “Ax Handle Saturday” occurred.  This was a racially motivated attack that took place in Hemming Park in Jacksonville, Florida. A group of white men attacked blacks engaging in sit-in protests opposing Jim Crow segregation. The attack took its name from the ax handles used by the attackers.  Earlier that month (August 13), black sit-ins began when students asked to […]

Mali Gains Independence From France

*On this date in 1960, Mali, Africa, gained independence from France. Following Senegal’s withdrawal from the federation in August 1960, the former Sudanese Republic became the Republic of Mali, with Modibo Keïta as president.   Keïta (named after Sundiata Keita), whose Sudanese Union-African Democratic Rally (US/RDA) party had dominated pre-independence politics (as a member of the African Democratic Rally), […]

Nigeria Gains Independence From Britain

*On this date in 1960, The Federation of Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom.  The UK retained the British monarch, Elizabeth II, as nominal head of state and Queen of Nigeria. This liberation was an effort that began in the aftermath of the Berlin Conference in 1884 Nigeria’s government was a coalition of conservative parties: the Nigerian People’s Congress (NPC), a party dominated […]

Gomillion v. Lightfoot is heard at The Supreme Court

*On this date in 1960, Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U.S. 339 (1960), was argued at the United States Supreme Court.  This decision found an electoral district with boundaries created to disenfranchise blacks violated the Fifteenth Amendment.   In Tuskegee, Alabama, after the Civil Rights Act of 1957, activists had been slowly making progress in registering black voters, whose numbers on the rolls […]

Black Awareness Day in Brazil

*On this date in 1960, Black Awareness Day was created in Brazil.  Black Awareness Day or Consciousness Day (Portuguese: Dia da Consciência Negra) is observed annually as a day “to celebrate a regained awareness by Brazil’s black community about their great worth and contribution to the country.” Black Awareness Day has been celebrated since the 1960s and has amplified its events in the […]

Mauritania Gains Independence From France

*On this date in 1960, Mauritania gained independence from France. Mauritania is a country in Northwest Africa. It is the twenty-eighth largest country or dependency in the world, the eleventh largest sovereign state in Africa, and the largest country lying entirely below an altitude of 1,000 meters (3,300 ft). In the late 19th century, due […]

Boynton v. Virginia is Ruled

*On this date, 1960, the United States Supreme Court decided Boynton v. Virginia. The case overturned a judgment convicting Bruce Boynton, a Black law student, of trespassing by being in a restaurant in a bus terminal that was “whites only.” It held that racial segregation in public transportation was illegal because such segregation violated the Interstate Commerce Act, which broadly forbade discrimination in interstate […]

The University of Georgia Reinstates Hunter, and Holmes

On this date in 1961, racial rioting erupted on the campus of the University of Georgia.

Black students Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were suspended for their involvement, but eventually reinstated by a federal court order. Hunter-Gault later became an Emmy award-winning journalist with the McNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.

Holmes v. Danner is Ruled

*On this date in 1961, Holmes v. Danner was decided.  This civil rights case was won to permit the desegregation of the University of Georgia.  Hamilton Holmes, a minor, by his father and next friend, Alfred Holmes, and Charlayne A. Hunter, a minor by her mother and next friend, Mrs. Althea Brown Hunter, on behalf […]

Sierra Leone Gains Independence From The UK

*On this date in 1961, Sierra Leone gained independence from Great Britain.   In the 1800s, the colonial British settlement of Sierra Leone was unique in that the population was composed of displaced Africans who were brought to the colony after the British abolition of the slave trade in 1807. Upon arrival in Sierra Leone, each […]

Freedom Riders Attacked In Annison, Alabama

*On this date in1961 American Freedom Riders were assaulted in Annison, Alabama.

Freedom Riders Attacked In Montgomery, Alabama

On this date in 1961, a White mob attacked Freedom Riders with chains and ax handles in Montgomery, AL.

Because of the local officers’ ineffectiveness, federal marshals had to be eventually dispatched by Attorney General Robert Kennedy. The Ku Klux Klan hoped that this violent treatment would stop other young people from taking part in freedom rides.

Instead, over the next six months, over a thousand people took part in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) freedom rides of 1961.

South Africa Gains Independence From Britain

*On this date in 1961, South Africa gained independence from Britain.  This was the first step in the redemption from the Berlin Conference convened.  That episode marked the high point of white European competition for African territory, a process commonly known as the Scramble for Africa.  The country became a republic following a referendum (only open […]

Eritrea Gaines Independence

*On this date in 1961, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia. Eritrea is in East Africa. It is bordered to the northeast and east by the Red Sea, Sudan to the west, Ethiopia to the south, and Djibouti to the southeast. Eritrea lies between latitudes 12° and 18°N and longitudes 36° and 44°E. A branch of the […]