After World War II, uranium mined in New Mexico was used to fuel nuclear weapons and power plants. The process was toxic for employees who worked with the radioactive materials and the mines also posed risks for nearby communities. In 1979, the dam…

This newspaper article was published in the Los Angeles Times on June 27, 1912 after white landowners began harassing guests at Bruce’s Beach, an African American beach resort. Bruce's Beach originated when Mrs. Willa Bruce's purchased of a lot of…

Founded in 1825, Seneca Village was a New York City settlement of mostly African Americans, many of whom were landowners. Irish and German immigrants also began to move into the community throughout the 1840s. By the 1850s, residents of the…

This 1857 map depicts plans for Central Park by landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. The red rectangle denotes the area of Seneca Village, which spanned 82nd street to 89th street in New York City. Founded in 1825, Seneca…

William J. Anderson was enslaved for 24 years. In 1836, he escaped enslavement and fled from a plantation near Vicksburg, Mississippi. Anderson eventually settled in Indiana. As a free man, Anderson became a successful farm and business owner and…

In 1790, Cornplanter, the chief of the Seneca nation (a nation within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy) and two other chiefs sought redress from the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania for wrongs committed by British colonists. The chiefs directly…

Perry Watkins was a gay African American soldier who was drafted to serve in the army during the Vietnam War. He was open about his sexuality throughout his entire career. Despite this, in 1981, the army revoked his security clearance after 13 years…

In 1994, the military adopted a new policy regarding LGBTQ+ service members: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. In the past, military regulations stated that homosexuality or other LGBTQ+ identites necessitated an immediate discharge from military service.…

Perry Watkins was a gay African American soldier who was drafted to serve in the army during the Vietnam War. He was open about his sexuality throughout his entire career. Despite this, in 1981, the army revoked his security clearance after 13 years…

HIV is a viral disease which affects the immune system, and causes AIDS. In 1981, the HIV/AIDS epidemic hit the United States, disproportionately affecting the LGBTQ+ community. LGBTQ+ veterans, who were equally sickened by the disease, used their…