After World War II, local, state, and federal governments invested in building new highways, civic developments, housing, and other infrastructure. These urban renewal projects claimed to “revitalize” and “modernize” American cities by…

This image, taken in Rougeville, Michigan, depicts one man standing on top of thousands of buffalo skills, with another standing in front of the pile with his foot on one skull. White settlers exterminated buffalo near the end of the 19th century for…

Working as a coal miner in the early 20th century was incredibly dangerous. In addition to the dangers faced by miners, coal mining has a considerably detrimental impact on the environment. On May 19, 1902, a coal mine exploded near Fraterville,…

Mary Rice Farris, a Black woman born and raised in Kentucky, became an activist and fought on behalf of poor, Black Appalachian citizens. In February 1968, she testified as part of U.S. Senate hearings on federal aid to low-income families. Facing…

Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 28, 2005, causing extensive damage in New Orleans and surrounding areas. City, state, and federal agencies responded slowly and unevenly, leaving around 100,000 New Orleans residents stranded in the flooded…

In 1970, the United Farm Workers (UFW) launched the Salad Bowl Strike, the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history. For many months, farm workers refused to work, picketed, and organized boycotts. Their action caused lettuce shipments to halt…

In the mid-1960s, a group of mostly Filipino farm workers created the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee and organized a labor strike against grape growers in Delano, California. After the AWOC joined together with the National Farmworkers…

Dollie B. Burwell, often referred to as the “mother of the environmental justice movement,” was a central figure in protests against toxic waste dumping in North Carolina in 1982. Polychlorinated biphenyls, known as PCBs, are toxic chemical…

On October 22, 1979, Congress members listened to testimony about the difficulties faced by Diné (Navajo people) living on the land that was contaminated by the Church Rock Uranium mine spill. The Church Rock mine was the country's largest…