September 4, 1948
As the performers and 20,000 concert-goers left a benefit concert given by Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger and others in Peekskill, NY they were attacked by an angry mob who objected to their support for unions, integration, worker’s rights and peace. More than 140 people were injured in what has come to be known as the Peekskill Riots.
September 4, 1957
Nine young Negroes were blocked from becoming the first black students at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Governor Orval Faubus called out the National Guard to prevent the court-ordered integration of the public schools in the state’s capital. President Dwight Eisenhower eventually sent in federal troops to guarantee the law was enforced. This 1964 documentary about the incident won an Academy Award.
