The April 20, 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act promised protection for Black Virginians, but its uneven enforcement reveals the limits of federal power against entrenched white supremacy.
On April 19, 1967, Kwame Ture, then known as Stokely Carmichael, delivered forceful antiwar speeches linking Vietnam to racial injustice, shaping a message that still resonates in Virginia today.
When Elizabeth Keckly appeared in print on April 18, 1862, readers saw a story of talent and reinvention. Beneath it sat the deeper Virginia history of slavery, abuse, and Black women’s determination to survive it.
Virginia’s April 17, 1861 secession vote in Richmond was not a neutral break over principle. It was a decision bound up with slavery and the racial order the Confederacy was built to protect.