---
title: "NYC School Boycott of 1964 — AP African American Studies"
description: "The 1964 NYC school boycott saw 464,000 students protest school segregation, the largest single-day civil rights protest ever. Key for Topic 4.7 grassroots organizing."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/new-york-city-school-boycott-of-1964"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP African American Studies"
unit: "Unit 4"
---

# NYC School Boycott of 1964 — AP African American Studies

## Definition

The New York City school boycott of 1964 was a one-day protest in which 464,000 students, nearly half the city's student body, stayed out of school to protest racial segregation in NYC schools. It remains the largest single-day civil rights protest in U.S. history (EK 4.7.B.2).

## What It Is

On February 3, 1964, around 464,000 students stayed home from New York City public schools in a coordinated boycott against [school segregation](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4/7-black-womens-leadership-and-grassroots-organizing-in-the-civil-rights-movement/study-guide/LIHkK6aGrz3QjBUt "fv-autolink"). That's nearly half the entire student body of the largest school district in the country, which is why this counts as the largest single-day civil rights protest in United States history.

Here's the part the AP exam cares about most: this happened in New York, not Mississippi. A decade after *Brown v. Board*, NYC schools were still deeply [segregated](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4/3-african-americans-and-the-second-world-war/study-guide/xDntAEXmjXPLXZMf "fv-autolink"), not by law but by housing patterns and district policy. The boycott proved that the [Civil Rights movement](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-1/1-what-is-african-american-studies/study-guide/a6kaxMoVW9Btftwa "fv-autolink") wasn't just a Southern story. It also showed coalition-building in action, since African American and Puerto Rican communities organized and boycotted together. That's grassroots, community-driven protest at a massive scale.

## Why It Matters

This term lives in **[Unit 4](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4 "fv-autolink"): Movements and Debates, Topic 4.7 (Black Women's Leadership and Grassroots Organizing in the Civil Rights Movement)**. It directly supports learning objective **[AP African American Studies](/ap-african-american-studies "fv-autolink") 4.7.B**, which asks you to describe how grassroots organizing *beyond the South* advanced the goals of the Civil Rights movement. The boycott is named explicitly in **EK 4.7.B.2**, so it's fair game on the exam. Together with Chicago's Coordinating Council of Community Organizations (EK 4.7.B.1), it's one of the CED's two go-to examples that the movement was national, not regional, and that ordinary community members (in this case, hundreds of thousands of students and parents) drove change without waiting on a famous leader.

## Connections

### Coordinating Council of Community Organizations (Unit 4)

The CCCO in Chicago is the boycott's sibling example in EK 4.7.B.1. Both protested Northern school segregation in the mid-1960s, and the CCCO then expanded into employment and housing discrimination. Pair them whenever a question asks about [civil rights activism](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4/6-major-civil-rights-organizations/study-guide/4Nt9gVozCJusjVjM "fv-autolink") outside the South.

### [Ella Baker (Unit 4)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/ella-baker)

Baker championed grassroots, group-centered leadership over leader-centered groups. The NYC boycott is that philosophy in action. Its power came from hundreds of thousands of ordinary participants, not a single charismatic figurehead.

### [March on Washington (Unit 4)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/march-on-washington)

These are the two 'massive numbers' events of the era, and they get confused. The 1963 [March on Washington](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/march-on-washington "fv-autolink") drew about 250,000 people to D.C.; the 1964 boycott involved 464,000 students in one city, making it the larger single-day protest.

### [Fannie Lou Hamer (Unit 4)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/fannie-lou-hamer)

Hamer's grassroots voter organizing in Mississippi is the Southern counterpart to the boycott's Northern activism. Together they let you argue that grassroots organizing, North and South, was the engine of the movement.

## On the AP Exam

Multiple-choice questions tend to test two things about the boycott. First, geography: it's the CED's flagship evidence that grassroots organizing advanced civil rights *beyond the South* (LO 4.7.B). Second, coalition-building: practice questions highlight that African American and Puerto Rican communities united in a single coordinated action, so expect stems asking what pattern of grassroots organizing that reflects. No released FRQ has used this term verbatim, but it's strong short-answer or essay evidence for any prompt about grassroots organizing, Northern segregation, or how communities (not just national organizations) drove the movement. The number to remember is 464,000, nearly half the city's students.

## New York City school boycott of 1964 vs March on Washington (1963)

Both were enormous, but they're different beasts. The March on Washington (1963) was a national demonstration in D.C. organized by major civil rights organizations, drawing roughly 250,000 people. The NYC school boycott (1964) was a local, grassroots action where 464,000 students simply didn't show up to school. The boycott is actually the larger single-day protest, and on the exam it's your evidence for *grassroots organizing beyond the South*, while the March is your evidence for coordinated national organization work (like Dorothy Height's role).

## Key Takeaways

- In 1964, 464,000 students, nearly half of New York City's student body, boycotted school to protest racial segregation in schools (EK 4.7.B.2).
- It remains the largest single-day civil rights protest in United States history, bigger than the March on Washington.
- The boycott is one of the CED's two main examples (with Chicago's CCCO) that civil rights organizing happened beyond the South, supporting LO 4.7.B.
- African American and Puerto Rican communities organized together, making the boycott a model of grassroots coalition-building.
- The boycott showed that a decade after Brown v. Board, Northern schools remained segregated in practice, even without segregation laws on the books.

## FAQs

### What was the New York City school boycott of 1964?

It was a one-day protest on February 3, 1964, in which 464,000 students, nearly half of NYC's student body, stayed out of school to protest [racial segregation](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/5-disenfranchisement-and-jim-crow-laws/study-guide/7WxHvzBXCJhbDTJL "fv-autolink") in the city's schools. It's the largest single-day civil rights protest in U.S. history.

### Was the NYC school boycott bigger than the March on Washington?

Yes. The boycott involved 464,000 students in a single day, while the 1963 March on Washington drew roughly 250,000 people. That's why the boycott, not the March, holds the title of largest single-day civil rights protest in U.S. history.

### How is the NYC school boycott different from the CCCO in Chicago?

Both protested Northern school segregation in the mid-1960s, but the boycott was a single massive one-day action in New York, while the CCCO was an ongoing organization in Chicago that later expanded into fighting employment and housing discrimination before disbanding in 1967. The CED pairs them as the two key examples of grassroots organizing beyond the South.

### Why were New York City schools segregated if segregation wasn't legal in the North?

NYC schools were segregated de facto, meaning through housing patterns and district policies rather than explicit laws. The boycott showed that ten years after Brown v. Board, segregation persisted in the North even without Jim Crow statutes.

### Is the New York City school boycott of 1964 on the AP African American Studies exam?

Yes. It's named in essential knowledge statement EK 4.7.B.2 under Topic 4.7, supporting learning objective AP African American Studies 4.7.B about grassroots organizing beyond the South, so it can appear in multiple-choice and free-response questions.

## Related Study Guides

- [4.7 Black Women's Leadership and Grassroots Organizing in the Civil Rights Movement](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4/7-black-womens-leadership-and-grassroots-organizing-in-the-civil-rights-movement/study-guide/LIHkK6aGrz3QjBUt)

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