Nicole Graham Major Civil Rights Protests, 1954 - 1965

  • Brown v. Board of Education

    The Brown vs. Board of Education was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional.
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign that started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, to oppose the city's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system.
  • Woolworth's sit-in

    Four African American students walked into a resturaunt with the intentions of ordering lunch. But the manager of the Greensboro Woolworth had intentions to maintain the lunch counter's strict whites-only policy. The four students never budged or left their seats.
  • Freedon Rides

    The first Freedom Ride took place on May 4, 1961 when seven blacks and six whites left Washington, D.C., on two public buses bound for the Deep South. They intended to test the Supreme Court's ruling in Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which declared segregation in interstate bus and rail stations unconstitutional.
  • Birmingham Children's March and Boycott

    Organized by James Bevel, the purpose of the march was to walk downtown and talk to the mayor about segregation in their city. Many children left their schools in order to be arrested, set free, and get arrested the following day.
  • March on Washington

    On August 28, 1963, demonstrators went to the nation’s capital to participate in the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” Not only was it the largest demonstration for human rights in US history, but it also occasioned a rare display of unity among the various civil rights organizations.
  • Selma to Montgomery March

    Martin Luther King led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators to the steps of the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, after a 5-day, 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, where the SNCC and the SCLC had been campaigning for voting rights.