Civil Rights
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
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Mansa Musa was the ruler of the Mali Empire in West Africa. Details recorded here should be sourced; unknown information is left blank.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
In 2023, the total gross domestic product of the U.S. state of North Carolina was around $559.1 billion. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the state's 2010 total gross state product was $424.9 billion, making it the ninth-wealthiest state in terms of gross domestic product. Its 2007 per capita personal income was $33,735, placing 36th in the nation. There has been a distinct difference in the economic growth of North Carolina's urban areas compared to its rural areas. While large cities such as Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, and others have experienced rapid population and economic growth over the last thirty years, many of the state's small towns have suffered from loss of jobs and population. Most of North Carolina's small towns historically developed around textile and furniture factories. However, North Carolina has been affected by offshoring and industrial growth in countries like China; one in five manufacturing jobs in the state has been lost to overseas competition. As these factories closed and moved to low-wage markets in Asia and Latin America, the small towns that depended upon them have suffered. The first gold nugget found in the U.S. was found in Cabarrus County in 1799. The first gold dollar minted in the U.S. was minted at the Bechtler Mint in Rutherford County.
The history of North Carolina from pre-colonial history to the present, covers the experiences of the people who have lived within the territory that now comprises the U.S. state of North Carolina. Findings of the earliest discovered human settlements in present day North Carolina, are found at the Hardaway Site, dating back to approximately 8000 BCE. From around 1000 BCE, until the time of European contact, is the time period known as the Woodland period. It was during this time period, that the Mississippian period began, which included areas of North Carolina. Historically documented tribes in the North Carolina region include the Algonquian peoplesof the coastal areas, such as the Chowanoke, Roanoke, Pamlico and Machapunga – they were the first encountered by English colonists. Other tribes including Iroquoian peoples such as Meherrin, Cherokee, and Tuscarora in the interior part of the state. There were many other tribes, such as the Cheraw, Yuchi, Waxhaw, Saponi, Waccamaw, and Catawba, Coree and Cape Fear Indians. The earliest English attempt at colonization was the Roanoke Colony in 1585, the famed "Lost Colony" of Sir Walter Raleigh. The Province of Carolina was formed in 1629, and became an official province in 1663. It split in 1712, helping form the Province of North Carolina. North Carolina is named after King Charles I of England; it became a royal colony of the British Empire in 1729. In 1776, the colony declared independence. The Halifax Resolves resolution adopted by North Carolina on April 12, 1776, was the first formal call for independence from Great Britain among the American Colonies during the American Revolution. On November 21, 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the United States Constitution. From colonial times, through the American Civil War, the enslavement of humans was legal in North Carolina. Tensions on rights of slave owners was the main cause of the American Civil War. North Carolina declared its secession from the Union on May 20, 1861. Following the Civil War, North Carolina was restored to the Union on July 4, 1868. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified December of 1865, ending the chattel slavery. After the Reconstruction era, white Democrats regained control of the state's political system. In the 1890s, white Democrats passed Jim Crow laws hindering many poor whites from voting and effectively disfranchised African Americans from voting. Jim Crow laws also enforced racial segregation. These laws were enforced until federal legislation was passed in the 1960s. On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully piloted the world's first powered heavier-than-air aircraft in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. During the late 19th and early 20th century, North Carolina started its shift from an agricultural based economy, to industrialization, adding many more new job occupations throughout the state. Many tobacco and textile mills started to form around this time in the Piedmont region between the Atlantic coastal plain and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Also the furniture industry flourished. The Great Depression in the 1930s hit the state's economy hard. New Deal projects helped the state recover. World War II had a major impact speeding up the industrialization and modernization. economic diversification after 1945 stimulated growth. Research Triangle Park, the largest research park in the United States, was established in 1959 near Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. During the Civil Rights Movement, the Greensboro sit-ins led by African American students, lead to Greensboro businesses desegregating their lunch counters. This movement also spread to many other cities in America, helping end racial segregation policies. During the 1960s, Congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 enabled African Americans to have a voice in society and political life. By the late 20th century, industries such as technology, pharmaceuticals, banking, food processing, and vehicle parts started to emerge as main economic drivers within the state, a shift from the states former main industries of tobacco, textiles, and furniture. The main factors in this shift were globalization, the state's higher education system, national banking, the transformation of agriculture, and new companies moving to the state. During the 1990s, Charlotte became a major national banking center. Through the late 20th century and into the 21st century, North Carolina's metropolitan areas continued to grow. This led to many migrants coming to North Carolina from both within the United States and internationally.
The town of Edenton is located on the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina, United States, in the Inner Banks region. It is the county seat of Chowan County. The population was 4,397 at the 2020 census. Edenton served as the first capital of North Carolina, during the colonial era as the Province of North Carolina, though other than housing the governor's official residence, it did not have other governmental functions. It served as capital from 1722 to 1743, when the capital was moved to Brunswick. The town was the site of the Edenton Tea Party, a protest organized by several Edenton women in 1774 in solidarity with the organizers of the Boston Tea Party. It was the birthplace of Harriet Jacobs, an enslaved African American whose 1861 autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, is now considered an American classic. In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Edenton was the site of a controversial and heavily reported sexual abuse trial and overturned conviction, what ultimately became North Carolina’s longest and most costly criminal trial — during what has been described as a period of widespread day-care sex-abuse hysteria. Edenton's local economy is primarily driven by tourism, and the town is a popular retirement location.
Ocracoke ( OH-krə-kohk) is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated town located at the southern end of Ocracoke Island, within Hyde County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 797 at the 2020 census, down from 948 at the 2010 census. No bridges connect Ocracoke Island to the mainland, though the main road across the island is part of North Carolina Highway 12, which uses a series of ferries to connect to Hatteras Island, to Cedar Island, and to the mainland at Swan Quarter. The economy of the island is driven by tourism and commercial fishing. A unique dialect of English, known colloquially as the Hoi Toider accent, is spoken in Ocracoke, though among younger residents it is being replaced by more standard dialects of General American. Ocracoke Island was the location of the pirate Blackbeard's death in November 1718. Though it saw no direct military action, Ocracoke was the site of a Confederate fort during the U.S. Civil War. During World War II, German submarines torpedoed several British ships off the coast of the island; the remains of four sailors washed ashore and they are interred at a small British military cemetery on the island. There is a yearly ceremony to honor the fallen sailors presented by the British Royal Navy, American National Park Service, and American Coast Guard. Being so far out in the Atlantic Ocean, Ocracoke Island is frequently in the path of tropical cyclones, notably Hurricane Dorian in 2019, which destroyed approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) of pavement along NC 12.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.