On February 9, 1954, Rev. Smallwood E. Williams stood up at a public meeting in a downtown church and called for the resignations of most members of the DC Board of Education, as well as of School…

In May 1961, at the former Greyhound Bus Station on New York Avenue NW, a group of activist volunteers boarded a bus to begin what would become a tumultuous and violence-filled “Freedom Ride 1961.”

“We gonna lay down our shufflin’ shoes.” (Howard University student protestors, 1968)

"If we’re going to have civilization in Washington, we need more friction."

"We want to free DC from our enemies, the people who make it impossible for us to do anything about lousy schools, brutal cops, slumlords, welfare investigators who go on midnight raids, employers who…

"Suspected of 'Communist' is every colored person in America who believes in civil and political rights and proposes to get them, and every white person who thinks he ought to."(Mary Church Terrell,…

"The persistent and forceful campaign which the Washington Council [of the National Negro Congress] and allied organizations have waged against police brutality in Washington has been one of the most…

“The National Theatre of Washington has the bold affront to bring to the District of Columbia a show, ‘The Green Pastures,’ played entirely by a cast of our own people, with the definite understanding…

The O Street Mansion was the Washington home-away-from-home of civil rights icon Rosa Parks (1913-2005) during her later years. Already a seasoned organizer, activist, and member of the NAACP, Parks…

“There are more poor than rich people in this country, but Congress doesn’t seem to know it. If we organize, they’ll have to listen.” (Catherine Jermany, welfare rights organizer)