Primary Documents from African American History
(1901) William Hooper Councill’s Letter to the White People of Alabama
Most scholars of today imagine Booker T. Washington as the major accommodationist and black political conservative of the era. There...
(1901) William Hannibal Thomas on the American Negro
Nineteenth Century black conservative William Hannibal Thomas was a Civil War veteran, Reconstruction era South Carolina politician, and U.S. counsel...
(1926) George S. Schuyler, “The Negro-Art Hokum”
Negro art “made in America” is as non-existent as the widely advertised profundity of Cal Coolidge, the “seven years of...
(1955) Zora Neale Hurston’s Letter to the Orlando Sentinel
August 11, 1955 Editor: I promised God and some other responsible characters, including a bench of bishops, that I was...
(1791) Benjamin Banneker’s Letter to Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Banneker’s Letter to Thomas Jefferson, August 19, 1791 SIR, I AM fully sensible of the greatness of that freedom,...
(1890) Second Morrill Act
Act of August 30, 1890, ch. 841, 26 Stat. 417, 7 U.S.C. 322 et seq. Chap. 841.–AN ACT To apply...
(1943) Executive Order 9346
Franklin D. Roosevelt May 27, 1943 In order to establish a new Committee on Fair Employment Practice, to promote the...
(1862) The District of Columbia Emancipation Act
District of Columbia Emancipation Act April 16, 1862 CHAP. LIV. — An Act for the Release of certain Persons held...
(2006) The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative
THE MICHIGAN CIVIL RIGHTS INITIATIVE (MCRI), PROPOSAL 2, AMENDMENT TO THE STATE CONSTITUTION (2006) ARTICLE I, SECTION 26: Civil Rights....
