Black History Knowledge — September 13

What happened on this day. These are the September 13 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on.

1962 — Ross Barnett vows that Mississippi will never integrate

On September 13, 1962, Mississippi governor Ross Barnett delivered a statewide television address declaring that no school would be integrated while he was governor and invoking the discredited doctrine of interposition against federal courts. His defiance set the stage for the deadly Ole Miss crisis two weeks later.

1971 — State forces retake Attica in the nation’s deadliest prison assault

On September 13, 1971, New York state police stormed Attica prison under Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s orders, firing into the yard through tear gas. Thirty-nine men, including ten hostages, were killed by state gunfire, and decades of litigation later confirmed the torture and reprisals that followed the assault.

1996 — Tupac Shakur dies of his wounds

On September 13, 1996, Tupac Shakur died in a Las Vegas hospital six days after being shot in a drive-by attack. Just twenty-five, the poet of "Dear Mama" and "Changes" left a body of work about Black struggle and survival that made him one of the most influential artists of his century.