[1] More than 200,000 students stayed out of school, and tens of thousands of Chicagoans joined in a protest that culminated in a march to the office of the Chicago Board of Education.
[3] This was exacerbated by the migration of more black Americans from the Southern United States to Chicago during the Jim Crow era.
[1] Rosie Simpson of Englewood, Chicago, coined the term "Willis Wagons" to describe the mobile classrooms.
[5] While Freedom Day was popular and widely covered, it did not have significant impact in changing the policies of Superintendent Willis.
[4] Before Freedom Day, in August, 1963, then-college student Bernie Sanders was arrested while protesting the policies of Superintendent Willis.