The Movements That Changed America

After WWII, veterans returned home with "combat fatigue," now known as PTSD. Psychiatrist Robert Felix lobbied to establish the National Institute of Mental Health and elevated mental health awareness in America.

In the summer of 1982, nearly 20,000 garment workers—mostly Asian American women—filled the streets of New York’s Chinatown in solidarity. Their strike won a decisive victory and challenged the “model minority” myth that still persists today.

The DSM once labeled homosexuality a mental disorder. In the 1960s, LGBTQ+ activists Barbara Gittings and Frank Kameny pushed to change that, helping spur its removal from the DSM in 1973.

Environmental issues have long faced our planet, but what did it finally take to set aside a day just for Earth?

The 504 Sit-in protest was a pivotal moment in the disability rights movement. The sit-in lasted 28 days and forced the signing of the 504 Regulations, which established protections against discrimination and paved the way for more inclusive workplaces.

In the last year of his life, Martin Luther King Jr. expanded his cause beyond Civil Rights and advocated to lift Americans out of poverty.

From a young age, Coretta Scott King loved music. She studied at the New England Conservatory and met Martin Luther King Jr. there.

In 1854, Harriet Tubman helped her brothers and their families escape slavery on Christmas Day before they were sold.

At just 6, Ruby Bridges braved angry crowds to attend an all-white school—becoming the first Black student to integrate in Louisiana.

Years before Brown v. Board of Ed, the Mendezes fought their own battle against legalized school segregation.

Two years before the Triangle Fire, Clara Lemlich urged thousands at Cooper Union to strike for safer garment factory conditions.

Sometimes, it really does come down to one vote (and the voter's mother) to change history.

Freedom Summer 1964 was a massive voter registration campaign in Mississippi and the first interracial movement of its kind.

Don't Ask Don't Tell. This controversial policy was repealed to allow LGBTQ people to openly serve in the US military. But well before this historic moment, one soldier fought for his right to serve.

Find out how the 1990 Capitol Crawl became a major catalyst for the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

Celebrating Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, but continuing that ritual wasn't always easy, especially for slaves in the New World.

In the 1950s, more than 40,000 citizens of Montgomery, Alabama, boycotted the city's segregated bus service for 381 days.

When President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, it helped other parts of American society to accept desegregation.