Black History Knowledge — June 21

What happened on this day. These are the June 21 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on.

1964 — Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner are murdered in Mississippi

On June 21, 1964, civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner disappeared near Philadelphia, Mississippi, while working with the Freedom Summer voting rights campaign. They had been investigating the burning of a Black church and were later found murdered, making this one of the most infamous racial terror events of the civil rights era.

1973 — The Supreme Court decides NAACP v. New York

On June 21, 1973, the Supreme Court decided NAACP v. New York, a case connected to voting rights, reapportionment, and the reach of the Voting Rights Act. The case shows how Black voting power continued to be fought over in the courts after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

2005 — Edgar Ray Killen is convicted in the Mississippi Burning case

On June 21, 2005, exactly 41 years after the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, Edgar Ray Killen was convicted of manslaughter for his role in the killings. The conviction came decades late, but it marked the first state homicide conviction in the case.