How the 1963 CPS boycott shaped protests to come

Freedom Day flyer — Chicago SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) History Project Archives, [Box #3, Folder #6], Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature

- Email
- Facebook
- Twitter
- SHARE
SHARE
- Print

Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons

How the 1963 CPS boycott over segregation shaped Chicago protests for decades to come

In 1963, nearly half of all Chicago students walked out of school to protest segregation and inequity in their schools, laying the groundwork for decades of protests to come.

Chicago SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) History Project Archives, [Box #3, Folder #6], Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature

By Jules Yaeger Meha Ahmad Micah Yason

On May 1, students at several Chicago Public Schools – in protest of the war in Gaza and in support of Palestinians – marched to the University of Chicago and DePaul encampments.

CPS students ditching class for a cause is nothing new. Going back to the early 1960s, CPS was ground zero for a massive boycott to fight inequities and segregation in schools – a protest that got the attention and support of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Reset dives into the history of the Chicago Public Schools boycott of 1963, otherwise known as Freedom Day.

GUEST: Elena Gonzalez, curator of civic engagement and social justice at the Chicago History Museum