segregation

Roller Skating and the Black Freedom Movement

Ledger Smith roller skated 700 miles from Chicago to Washington, D.C. in August 1963 to join the March on Washington. His journey, supported by the NAACP, drew national media attention and was an act of resistance against segregation and racism.

Desegregating the Schoolhouse Doors

Vivian Malone and James Hood calmly faced reporters as they prepared to integrate the University of Alabama in 1963, symbolizing the determination of Black youth in the face of those who were staunchly opposed to desegregation.

Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. waits to address the combined session of the Massachusetts State Legislature at the Massachusetts State House in Boston on April 23, 1965.

The Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Preaching peace, yet struck down by violence, the killing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reshaped America’s urban spaces and fundamentally changed how the country remembers this civil rights leader.