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Issued in the August 25, 1966, edition of Atlanta’s Black Paper, this report on the Vietnam War draft describes the violent actions of American military personnel toward peaceful Black protestors over the course of several days.

Mary loves Sunday mornings and the spirituals that give her and Mama hope.

Juni teaches her friend Michael all she knows about the first Memorial Day—the day when thousands of black people marched to remember their loved ones who had died in the Civil War.

This petition illustrates how enslaved people used the rhetoric of the American Revolution to point out the colonies’ hypocrisy of demanding freedom and liberty, while themselves having slavery.

The petitioners, who fear that the free black population of Currituck County will join with enslaved people in a revolt against the white people of the county, request that the North Carolina General Assembly to remove all free black people from the county. They suggest this can be done either by forcing them from their homes or by condemning them into slavery. The petitioners also advise the assembly to boost the number of enslavers in Currituck.

This image group features portraits of Frederick Douglass, Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano, who all learned to read and write while they were enslaved. Each used their gifts to help end slavery.

In this story, a young boy learns the history behind the abolitionist song “John Brown’s Body.”

In the face of extreme punishment for enslaved people and breaking the law for whites, roughly 5 percent of the enslaved population learned to read and write. Letters like the ones written below show the lengths they would go to learn.