TIMELINE OF BLACK HISTORY AND EXCELLENCE
Civil Rights-Black Nationalism Movements
Untold Stories
MEET OUR TRAILBLAZERS
Photo by: NBA Photo Archives
1950- The National Basketball Association diversified its league with the induction of Chuck Cooper, Earl Lloyd, and Nathaniel Clifton, the first African American players to join the NBA. Through a journey of racial discrimination and public ridicule, the three athletes remained cohesive, supportive of one another, and went on to make pivotal marks on the respective teams, winning championships, and earning titles for their victories.
Photo by: The Guardian
1955- 15-year-old, high school student, Claudette Colvin was brutalized and apprehended by law enforcement for refusing to surrender her seat on a city bus to a White passenger. She was among the first Black citizens to defy the bus segregation laws in Montgomery, Alabama prior to Rosa Parks. In the months following her arrest, Colvin remained involved in Civil Rights as an active attendee of local council gatherings for Black youth, where she met and worked with Parks, who faciliated the meetings.
Photo by: John Melton, The Oklahoma Historical Society, and The Oklahoman
1958-Clara Shepard Luper, a Civil Rights activist and high school teacher, led a group of adolescents in forming sit-ins at an Oklahoma drugstore and other local establishments in an effort to desegregate them. Their actions resulted in the outlawing of segregation in many public facilities throughout the state and laid the groundwork for the coming sit-in movements throughout the 1960s.
Photo by: Wikimedia Commons
1960-A group of Black college students in Greesboro, North Carolina coordinated a sit-in at a lunch counter in the F.W. Woolworth Department store, where they were initally denied hospitality. In the coming days, thousands of Black and White high school and college students joined the sit-in movement, inspiring other students in surrounding states to follow suit to protest segregation. The extensive media coverage and loss of clientele eventually compelled Woolworth's to desegregate its lunch counters.
Photo by: Ernest C. Withers
1960-In Fayette County, Tennessee, Black tenant farmers relocated to a formation of tents on a vacant property, known as Tent City, after being ordered out of their homes by White landlords for trying to sign up to vote. This led the federal government to pass new laws protecting Black Americans' right to enroll to vote. The number of Black voters in the region proliferated tremendously following the passing of this legislaton.
1966-David L. Horne, a junior Psychology student at the University of Florida, collaborated with other Black students on campus to develop the institution's first official Black Student Union. UF's Black Student Union soon became a catalyst for promoting unity among Black students, hosting African American speakers, and encouraging the administration to increase the number of Black staff, as well as academic resources for Black students on campus.
1966-My father, Joseph Green, a then junior at John Marshall High School in Chicago, and defensive back for the school's football team, is honored as 'The Most Valuable Defensive Back' and featured in the Chicago Tribune.
Photo by: Joseph Green
Photo by: Florida Alligator
Photo by: Constantine Manos (Magnum Photos)
1971- Rev. Jesse Jackson founded the organization, People United to Save/Serve Humanity, also referred to as Operation PUSH. PUSH benefited the Black community by fostering educational resources to youth, helping African Americans secure and maintain employment and homeownership, and allocating awards to reputable Black individuals throughout the country. This entity was also notable for employing mechanisms, such as boycotts, to help people of color overcome job discrimination.
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Photo by: Getty Images
1972-Shirley Chisholm, who was the first African American woman to serve in Congress, enters the U.S. presidential race, making history again as the first Black female to run for President. Throughout her campaign, she commonly convyed how women should be assessed by their strengths and merit, and not considered inferior to their male counterparts.
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Photo by: Searchlight Pictures
1969-Thousands of Black residents in Harlem, New York assembled at the city's Mount Morris Park throughout the summer to enjoy the Harlem Cultural Festival, also known as the, "Summer of Soul." Prominent Black musicians and Civil Rights icons, such as Nina Simone, the 5th Dimension, Stevie Wonder, and Mahalia Jackson spoke, performed musical acts, and empowered the audience to embrace their Black identity and heritage. This festival was instrumental in inspiring Black Americans to love themselves and continue to fight for equality after years of oppression.
Photo by: United Press International (UPI)
1977- President Jimmy Carter appointed Patricia Roberts Harris as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Although having served on committees for previous administrations in the 1960s, Harris was the first Black female chosen to oversee a cabinet role. During her tenure as Secretary of Hud, Harris made a conscious effort to enhance many Black communities across the nation, investing large amounts of money into ameliorating the quality of housing projects and the neighborhoods as a whole.
Bibliography
African American Heriage, (2023). Shirley Chisholm (November 30, 1924-January 1, 2005). National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/individuals/shirley-chisholm
Aschburner, S. (2025). NBA Pioneers: League celebrates 75th anniversary of first Black players.
https://www.nba.com/news/nba-celebrates-75th-anniversary-integration
Bennett, L. (1971). Ebony Pictorial History Of Black America Volume III-Civil Rights Movement to Black Revolution.
Bethel Woods Center For The Arts, (2024). The Summer Harlem Sang Out. https://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/news/detail/harlem-cultural-festival
Gauthier, J. (2025). History and the Census: The 1960 Greensboro Sit-In, United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/about/history/stories/monthly/2025/february-2025.html
Oklahoma Historical Society, Luper, Clara Shepard (1923-2011), The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma
History and Culture. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=LU005
Ortiz, P., and Gordon, J., (2021), Black Students' Struggles for Justice at the University of Florida by David L. Horne-African American Studies: 50 Years at the University of Florida https://ufl.pb.unizin.org/africanamericanstudies/chapter/chapter-2/
Our American Story, (2023-2024), A Higher Standard: Patricia Roberts Harris. https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/higher-standard-patricia-roberts-harris
Rainbow PUSH Coalition, (2018). Brief History. https://www.rainbowpush.org/brief-history
Theoharis, J. (2026). The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin. https://rosaparksbiography.org/bio/claudette-colvin/
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