Timeline of the Movement

Elizabeth Jennings Graham (Graham added after her 1860 marriage) was brutalized and forced out of a New York City streetcar. This sparked a lawsuit Jennings won in 1855.

A portrait of Elizabeth Jennings published in The American Woman’s Journal in 1895. Her civil rights efforts predate those of Rosa Parks by a century, though the two are often compared. Kansas State Historical Society

New York State Legislature passes the Civil Rights Act of 1873 outlawing racial discrimination in public transport.

New York History Vol. 71, No. 2 (APRIL 1990), pp. 207-233 (27 pages) Published By: Cornell University Press

Elizabeth Cisco, a Black Queens mother and business owner attempted to enroll her children in "Brenton Avenue School" and was deinied on the basis of race. The court decided that the principal had the power to establish schools for the exclusive education of "colored children," and when such schools are established, and provided with equal facilities for education, colored children may be excluded from the schools provided for the white children.

Image Courtesy of Harvard Law School Library

Ella Baker moves to Harlem in the 1930’s, and spends the next 3 decades leading advocacy for desegregation in New York City. She is eventually named president of the New York City branch of the NAACP, and is asked by the Mayor to serve on the 1954 Commission On School Integration.

Supreme Court overturns Plessy decision, outlawing segregagtion.

In December 1954, the New York City Board of Education (BOE) announced a new goal—to integrate the city’s schools. They also announced the formation of a Commission on Integration (COI), tasked with studying the issue and recommending steps to promote integration.

Image Courtesy of NYC DOE

Between 1956 and 1957, the COI issued six reports containing hundreds of recommendations to successfully integrate schools. A: Open Enrollment, B: Princeton Plan, C: Site Selection, D: Redistricting, E: Transfers, F: Reverse Bussing.

Image Courtesy of Metropolitan Council and American Jewish Congress

Activist and Black intellectual Mae Mallory joined by a group of Harlem mothers file a lawsuit against the New York City Board of Education. They win the lawsuit obtaining right to an "open transfer" policy.

Student Boycott and Freedom Schools: Half a million Black and Puerto Rican students lead a massive boycott, arguing the BOE's efforts did not go far enough to desegregate schools.

In early 1966, IS 201 was opend with the promise to be an integrated school, but not one white student was enrolled by the Board of Education. Activists demanded the the school be integrated, or they be given community control.

Image of IS 201

"In the late 1960s, the Central Brooklyn neighborhood of Ocean Hill-Brownsville was at the center of a bold experiment in community control of public schools. But as Black and Puerto Rican parents in Ocean Hill-Brownsville tried to exercise power over their schools, they collided headfirst with the teachers’ union — leading to the longest teachers’ strike in American history..." - Brooklyn Deep

The New York City Decentralization Law of 1969 removed the City Board of Education from mayoral control and reorganized the city's public school system into community districts. Some districts are drawn in ways that encourage desegregation, others to reinforce it.

Image Courtesy of Vox

The New York City Decentralization Law of 1969 removed the City Board of Education from mayoral control and reorganized the city's public school system into community districts. Some districts are drawn in ways that encourage desegregation, others to reinforce it.

Image Courtesy of New York Times

The New York City Decentralization Law of 1969 removed the City Board of Education from mayoral control and reorganized the city's public school system into community districts. Some districts are drawn in ways that encourage desegregation, others to reinforce it.

Manhattan District 1

Mayor Michael Bloomberg lobbies state Legislature for control of New York City schools. He is granted "mayoral control" giving him full authority over the public school system. The Panel for Education Policy (PEP) is created to replace the former school board system.

Image Courtesy of New York Daily News

PS 133 diveristy-in-admissions plan approved by Mayor Bloomberg.

The UCLA Civils Rights Project releases a report naming New York State as home to the most segregated schools in the country. New York City being the third most segrgated city in the country.

IntegrateNYC is founded in the South Bronx by Sarah Medina Camiscoli  and a group of students.

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) announces the Socioeconomic Integration Pilot Program (SIPP), funding 25 districts across New York State to develop integration plans. Districts 1, 3, 9, 13, and 16.

The New York City Council Passes the School Diversity Accountability Act, a law requiring diversity data to be produce annually by the department of education.

DOE announces Diversity in Admissions Pilot with 7 schools, plus PS 133.

Epic Theatre Ensemble's Epic Next students research, write, and produce Laundry City, a play that explores educational segregation and tour the show all across the country.

New York City Alliance for School Integration and Desegregation (nycASID) forms

Teens Takes Charge Forms

The NYC Department of Education releases Diversity Plan.

Tweet Courtesy of NYC DOE

45 Individuals and orgnaizations named as the School Diversity Advisory Group.

DOE Approves D3 Middle School Diversity Plan , thef irst district-wide middle school diversity plan. This plan maintained the use of screened admissions while setting acaddemic diversity priorities at each school.

Mayor Bill de Blasio proposes changes to the Specilalized High School Admissions exam (Hecth-Calandra).

NYSED Announces New York State Integration Integration Project (NYSIP) - 25 districts across NYS funded to develop integration plans.

Epic Theatre Ensemble produces "Nothing About Us" building on their play Laundry City.

DOE Approves D15 Middle School Diversity Plan and announces $2 million grant program for other districts.

SDAG Report I Released: Making the Grade: The Path To Real Integration and Equity for NYC Public School Students

Report Courtesy of NYU Metro Center

Mayor approves 62 of 67 recommendations from SDAG I

SDAG Report II Released: New Programs for Better Schools

Report Courtesy of NYU Metro Center

DOE Awards Diversity Grant to Five Community School Districts: 9, 13, 16, 28, 31

Image Courtesy of Brooklyn Eagle

Where do we go from here?

Through a partnership between Territorial Empathy and IntegrateNYC Segregation is Killing Us (SIKU) is launched. An interactive platform that depicts disparate impact the pandemic had on BIPOC New Yorkers. To mediate the crisis, Segregation is Killing Us posits an innovative admissions policy designed to support families most vulnerable to systemic inequities. The policy was simulated by MIT with positive outcomes.

Image Courtesy of Territorial Empathy

A New York City education panel rejected a testing contract — halting the controversial practice of testing incoming kindergartners for admission to gifted programs.

Image Courtesy of Chalkbeat

"New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza left his post on March 15, a sudden departure in the midst of a public health crisis that has meant a tumultuous, draining year for the city’s roughly 960,000 students and their families — as well as the chancellor himself. Meisha Ross Porter, the executive superintendent of the Bronx, replaced Carranza to become the first Black woman to lead the nation’s largest school system." - Chalkbeat

Image Courtesy of Chalkbeat

Eric Adams becomes Mayor of NYC and appoints David Banks, CEO of Eagle Academy as Chancellor.

Image Courtesy of Mayor's Office

The administration increases capacity of Gifted and Talented Programs by 1,000.

Image Courtesy of Mayor's Office