Canton Public Library

Norma Rae, 1979.

Places in the Heart, 1984.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. embarks on a deeply personal journey through the last fifty years of African American history. Joined by leading scholars, celebrities, and a dynamic cast of people who shaped these years, Gates travels from the victories of the civil rights movement up to today, asking profound questions about the state of black America, and our nation as a whole.

February 1, 1960. In Greensboro, North Carolina, four African American students sat down and ordered coffee at a lunch counter inside a Woolworth's store. After being refused service they did not leave, but instead, remained sitting at the counter all day. This nonviolent "sit-in" was repeated in other southern states over the next few days, resulting in the eventual arrest of over 1,600 persons.and  leading  to the Woolworth department store chain removing its policy of racial segregation in the South.

February 2, 1848. The war between Mexico and the United States ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In exchange for $15 million, the U.S. acquired the land comprising parts or all of present day California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Texas.