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Brown v. Board of Education
Ruled that segregation based on race in public schools is unconstitutional. This not only helped integrate the schools, but also was a catalyst in the Civil Rights movement and led to change in many other public areas around the country. -
White Citizens Council
White supremacist group that was concentrated in the South. This group formed as an angry response to Brown v Board of Education. They used violence in order to fight against African Americans who were participating in the Civil Rights movement. -
Brown v. Board of Education II
After Brown v. Board of Education, many schools did not listen and continued to stay segregated. To change that, Brown v. Board of Education II called for all public schools to desegregate "with all deliberate speed". -
Lynching of Emmett Till
One day, a 14 year old boy, Emmett Till, was at a grocery store and talked to a white woman in a flirtatious way, and he got accused of offending her, when in reality he did no harm. He was then brutally beaten and lynched by her family, which was the cause of his death. This was another catalyst for the Civil Rights movement. -
Rosa Parks Arrested
Rosa Parks was on a bus and she decided to sit in a white person's seat. The bus driver told her to get up, but she refused, so they called the cops who then arrested her for not giving up her seat to a white man. Her actions then led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott which heavily contributed to the Civil Rights Movement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
To honor Rosa Park's actions, the black community in Montgomery boycotted the bus system and instead, they walked everywhere. They did this to protest against bus segregation, and the boycott lasted 381 days. After this, they became successful, because Montgomery's segregation laws of busses became unconstitutional. -
MLK House Bombing
MLK's house was bombed as a test in order to see if he would still follow his nonviolent beliefs or not. Luckily, no one was injured when the bombing occurred. Once people found out about it, they arrived at his house and MLK announced that nonviolence is key, and that he loves his enemies. He never broke the promise of nonviolence. -
Bombing of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth
Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was a civil rights activist and a pastor at his church. At the time of the bombing, he was home with his family and 2 members of his church, but luckily no one was harmed. His house was bombed by KKK members in Alabama. -
SCLC Founded
The SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) was formed because they wanted to advance the Civil Rights Movement in a nonviolent manner. The SCLC was mainly influenced by the Montgomery Bus Boycott. MLK was one of the main founders. -
Eisenhower sends in Federal Troops
The Little Rock Nine were 9 black students who were joining an all white school for the first time. When this happened, it caused a lot of backlash from the public, causing many people to crowd in front of the school and be violent towards them. The chaos got so bad, that President Eisenhower sent in federal troops to aid the students in entering the school and they would make sure the kids can enter the school safely. -
SNCC Formed
The SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) was formed by black college students who fought against segregation in the South and emphasized the voice young blacks had in the Civil Rights movement. Sit-ins were very popular in this group. -
Greensboro Sit-ins
4 African American students sat at all white lunch counters and refused to get out of their seats when they were told to. The 4 stayed in their seats until the store closed. They returned with other students the next day. The Greensboro sit-ins influenced many other African Americans to participate in sit-ins as well, which became successful because soon enough segregation in public areas became illegal. -
Freedom Rides
Freedom riders were groups of both African Americans and whites who would get together and go on bus trips through the South as a protest to desegregate interstate bus and rail stations. Unfortunately, many people in the South who were opposed to this became violent and a mob attacked and beat them. -
White Mob Attacks Federal Marshals in Montgomery
Once again, the Freedom Rides angered many people in the South so they fought back with violence. This caused federal marshals to have to protect them and the churches, because the white mobs beat up the Freedom Riders and bombing churches. Kennedy then threatened to send federal troops to protect them. -
Albany Georgia “failure”
The Albany movement was created to try to desegregate public areas in Georgia through nonviolent protesting. However, it was believed to be a failure because they were unsuccessful in achieving their goal of desegregating those areas, and many people were arrested because of it. -
Bailey v. Patterson
This court case was aimed at desegregating "interstate and intrastate transportation". It was brought to the Supreme Court by a group of African Americans. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation of interstate and intrastate transportation is unconstitutional. -
MLK goes to a Birmingham jail
Birmingham was a very difficult place for blacks to live during this time because their segregation laws were so strictly enforced. When MLK protested in Birmingham, he wound up getting arrested and sent to jail, and he was told that he could no longer protest there. -
Kennedy sends in Federal Troops
In order to reduce and control the riots that were occurring in Birmingham, President Kennedy sent in federal troops. The governor of Alabama was not doing enough to help, so Kennedy stepped in. He also made sure that the state worked hard to protect its citizens after. -
Equal Pay Act
This act required that men and women working in the same establishment would be paid equally for equal work. This was signed by President Kennedy. -
Assassination of Medgar Evers
Medgar Evans was a civil rights activist who was a member of the NAACP. He also served in World War II for the Normandy Invasion. He was shot right outside his home by a white supremacist leader, Byron De La Beckwith. Byron walked away free but luckily, 30 years later he was sent to prison because the case was opened once again. -
March on Washington “I have a Dream”
The March on Washington was an enormous demonstration in Washington where 250,000 some people gathered to protest. They were fighting for equality for jobs and freedom. This was where MLK gave his famous "I have a Dream" speech. His speech moved the crowd and motivated everyone to fight for their rights. This speech is still very widespread and known today. -
Bombing of a church in Birmingham
Before Sunday morning services, the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed in Birmingham. This killed 4 very young girls and injured many other people who were present during the time. To fight back afterward, many protestors gathered around the church and it became violent. Although it was very tragic, this spread awareness and moved towards a stronger Civil Rights Movement. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Kennedy was assassinated when he rode in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. He wife was along with him when it occurred. Lee Harvey Oswald was the one who shot him and he shot him 3 times. November 25th was declared as the national day of mourning, and thousands and thousands of people showed up for him. -
Freedom Summer
This was a summer project to protest for and increase the number of registered African American voters in Mississippi. Mostly whites helped and volunteered to fight against voting discrimination. This movement was organized by the SNCC and CORE. -
XXIV (24th) Amendment
There used to be poll tax on voting, which would make it for lower classes to vote because they cannot always afford it. The 24th Amendment removed the poll tax in any elections for federal officials. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It was signed by now President Lyndon Johnson. This was a huge milestone in the Civil Rights Movement. -
Killing of Goodman, Chaney, Schwerner
Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were white New Yorkers who were apart of CORE and travelled to Mississippi to help in the Civil Rights Movement. They disappeared on June 21, and their bodies were later found buried in an earthened damn. -
Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcom X was assassinated while preaching about his organization of African American unity. He was assassinated by rival Black Muslims. He was a Civil Rights leader and stressed black nationalism when he followed the teaching of Elijah Muhammed. -
Selma to Montgomery March
This march was aimed towards protesting for African American voting rights. They marched 54 miles and it brought a lot of attention to the public and spread awareness about voting rights. However, they were met with violence along the way. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed discrimination when it comes to voting, especially in the South. The South had literacy tests, so they became illegal. This act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson. -
Black Panthers Formed
The Black Panther Party was formed by college student who stressed black nationalism, socialism, and armed self defense. They also emphasized Malcom X's beliefs. It was mainly formed to protect the black communities from racism and police brutality. Unfortunately they got into a lot of shoot outs and violence. -
Detroit Riots
African Americans were extremely angry about unemployment, underemployment, poverty, racism, segregation, police brutality, etc. So, they began to riot in Detroit and it was very violent; it lasted 5 days and 43 died while 342 were injured. Over a thousand buildings were burned as well. -
Loving v. Virginia
Loving v. Virginia outlawed prohibitions on interracial marriages. The Lovings were an interracial couple whose marriage was ruled illegal, but they took it to the Supreme Court and they outlawed Virginia's law prohibiting them to be married. -
Minneapolis Riots
Like in Detroit, African Americans were angry about racism, unemployment, poverty, etc. So, they decided to have riots in Minneapolis by bombing businesses and destroying stores. -
Assassination of MLK
MLK was shot from his balcony in his hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was shot by James Earl Ray. This shocked the nation and they mourned his death because he was such a big part of the Civil Rights movement. He led organizations like the SCLC and spread his beliefs about nonviolent protesting and he became successful in his protesting. -
Assassination of Robert “Bobby” Kennedy
Robert Kennedy was shot in his hotel after he won the California presidential primary. Sirhan, the man who shot him, was convicted and sent to prison for life.
