Vermont becomes the first territory to abolish slavery, followed by New England territories north of Delaware that implement “gradual abolition” laws.
July 1, 1839
Africans aboard the slave ship Amistad seize control and order crew to sail to Africa but arrive to the United States to face murder and piracy charges. They are later acquitted and returned to their homeland.
June 30, 1829
Cincinnati, Ohio, officials use law to force Black residents to leave the city.
June 29, 1958
Bethel Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, pastored by civil rights activist Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, is bombed.
June 28, 1844
After slavery is declared illegal in Oregon, the state this week passes first laws prohibiting Black people from residing in state and authorizing whipping of Black people found there.
June 27, 1973
Two young Black girls, Minnie (14) and Mary Alice Relf (12) sue a health clinic in Montgomery, Alabama for sterilizing them without their knowledge or consent.
June 26, 2011
White teens kill James Craig Anderson, a Black man, in a hate crime in Jackson, Mississippi.
June 26, 1959
Prince Edward County, Virginia, avoids integration by closing public schools for years.
June 25, 1964
Hundreds attack anti-segregation march in St. Augustine, Florida, injuring more than 50 African-American protestors.
June 24, 2013
This week, Kimberly McCarthy becomes the 500th person executed by the state of Texas since 1972; more than half of those executed have been people of color.