The mid-20th century was crucial to the fight for equality in America. The civil rights movement lasted from 1954 to 1968 and had an incredible impact on the history of the United States. Some of the most notable figures from the civil rights movement include Martin Luther King Jr, A. Phillip Randolph, Ida B. Wells, and the woman we are focusing on today, Rosa Parks.
Before becoming a leader in the civil rights movement, Parks worked as a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama. Her husband (Raymond Parks) and her were both involved in other social justice movements throughout their lives. One December afternoon in 1955 changed her life and the civil rights movement forever. Parks was headed home from work when she boarded a city bus, which at the time was segregated and priority was given to white commuters. While it wasn’t explicitly stated in the law, black commuters were commonly asked to give up their seats if the bus became full. A few stops after boarding, a white man had no place to sit, and the row Rosa was sitting in was asked to move. While the other three in her row agreed, Rosa refused. Police officers came to the bus, and after analyzing the situation, placed Rosa Parks in custody. Her arrest launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott into action, in which mass groups of people refused to take public transportation, and instead opted to walk everywhere to protest the unfair treatment. After over a year of boycotting, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to segregate public buses. This was a huge step towards achieving equal civil rights and desegregation.
After the boycott, Rosa Parks moved around before settling down in Detroit, Michigan. She continued to be involved in various civil rights and social movements throughout her life. In my research this week I learned something new about Rosa. According to the Oceans Herald Journal in Shelby, Michigan, on October 14th, 1999, Rosa Parks had a military camp named after her! Camp Rosa Parks was named after her because she demonstrated courage and honor during the civil rights movement. The camp’s purpose was to serve as an alternative to incarceration for teenagers, where they can receive rehabilitation that will keep them out of legal trouble as they transition into adulthood.
As Rosa got older and faced health and financial issues, those she had supported in the past returned the favor to support her. She continued to be a light to those around her every day until she died of natural causes on October 24th, 2005. Despite no longer being with us, her legacy lives on.
Did you know that there is only one team in the MLB that isn’t based in the United States? The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Canada, which plays in the American League (AL) despite not being from America. The Bluejays played their first game in 1977 after joining the American League, where they proceeded to finish last in their division for their first five seasons. They then hired a new manager in 1982, who took them to new heights and led them to over a decade of winning seasons, before leaving to manage a new team. One of their biggest accomplishments came on October 24th, 1992, when they defeated the Atlanta Braves to win their first World Series title. Not only was this the first title for the Bluejays, but it also cemented their legacy as the first team to win a World Series not based in the United States. The Moultrie Observer described it as “exciting to the last” and a “Sunday mornings suspense classic”. They continued their winning run the next season by winning a second World Series title. While these are the only two World Series titles the Blue Jays have won to date, their achievements in building a program from disaster to victory remain notable.
One pivotal moment in the Cold War era was the Cuban missile crisis. From October 16th to October 29th, 1962, the United States was engaged in direct confrontation with the soviet union. This came after the US discovered that Russia was sending equipment and nuclear missiles to set up launch sites in Cuba, which is just over 400 miles away from the United States. President John F. Kennedy consulted his advisors upon learning this information and decided to issue a naval quarantine of Cuba on October 22nd.
That day, Kennedy sent a letter to the Soviet Union demanding that they withdraw from sending any more missiles to Cuba, as well as dismantling any launch sites that were finished/in progress. He also went on national television that night to inform the United States public of the situation and warn of what could happen. The following days were full of tension and fear, as the American public prepared for nuclear war, and President Kennedy negotiated with the soviet union. In the Newark Public Library Archives, I scrolled through the days around when Kennedy made his public address, and the front page of every paper was about this crisis. From answers to questions, updates on the situation, and brief recaps of what had happened so far, it was fascinating to scroll through and watch the situation develop through the eyes of the past. Eventually, they came to a solution where the soviet union agreed to remove their missiles and launch sites from Cuba if the United States did the same with their sites in Turkey. While this didn’t officially end the Cold War, it encouraged the United States and the Soviet Union to establish a better line of communication to defuse further tensions.
After world war two, leaders of the world’s major powers came together to organize and establish a new international organization. The League of Nations, created after the first world war, had previously been responsible for maintaining peace between nations. However, world leaders decided that the League of Nations was no longer fulfilling its job since it was unable to prevent World War 2 from escalating, and many of the major powers had left or never even joined.
This left them to decide they needed to create a new international organization with similar goals to the League of Nations, but more effective. After representatives from 50 countries met in San Francisco, California met to discuss a new organization, and two months were spent drafting a charter, the United Nations was officially formed on October 24, 1945. Most discussion I found in my research immediately following its chartering was in regards to nuclear weapons and how they would be addressing that topic. I also noticed that in many papers, like The Newark Evening News, they initially abbreviated the name to UNO (United Nations Organization), rather than the current abbreviation used of just UN. I thought this was an interesting detail! The United Nations’ main goals are to promote peace, prevent future wars, protect human rights, and provide humanitarian aid to the countries involved. The organization is still effective and functioning in the current day.
My search tip of the week applies to any kind of research, but especially archival research! Some databases have more information about specific topics than others, and those will give you more specific information! For example, I find myself in the Newark Public Library CHA whenever I am looking for something from the World War 2 era because they have a huge number of papers from this era focused on that time! If I were looking for something from the modern day, it wouldn’t be as helpful as their database does not cover those years. However, it is the perfect place to turn when I need something from the mid-20th century! The same is true for many of our other partners, and each one has something special to offer!
Between 1817 and 1825, construction was underway to create the Erie Canal. Stretching over 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo, New York, the Erie Canal was constructed to connect the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. In doing so, it created a trade route connecting major cities in New York to improve trade and commerce. It also encouraged settlement in the state of New York and boosted the economy. In the Madison Observer on April 28th, 1924, they reported that already there had been unprecedented population increases in the areas in which the canal would pass before it was even finished. The Erie Canal was completed on October 26th, 1825, which was two years ahead of schedule. Following its completion, populations in eastern America continued to grow rapidly. The creation of the Erie Canal was a major step in the development of national transportation systems and boosted the American economy greatly.
Advantage Archives works to build strong, community-based partnerships to provide free online access to local history, making it discoverable and easily accessible to anyone, anywhere, at any time, on any device. This allows communities to understand and connect to their past in a meaningful way. Through the Community History Archive search platform, we provide the community with the means to explore, discover, learn from, connect with, and share the stories of the people, places, and events that shaped their community.
The Community History Archives are intended to serve as a “portal to the past”, allowing local primary source documents to give an accounting of history as told by the individuals that witnessed it. Advantage Archives guiding principals center around building strong community-based partnerships, which is why we enter into them with the intent of shouldering our fair share, and taking the burden off of the community for the ongoing costs associated with storage, hosting, development, and maintenance of the Community’s History Archive. We are an active participant in the community’s efforts to make their collective history more accessible. The Community History Archives are maintained for free by Advantage and do not require a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or any other ongoing costs or expenses to the institution or members of the community.
If you would like to see more local history online, please contact your local library, newspaper publisher, genealogical society, historical society, or educational institution, and encourage them to learn more about creating a Community History Archive or have them contact Advantage Archives at (855) 303-2727
