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jackie robinson enters major league baseball
at age 28, he broke the color barrier of a sport that had been segregated for more than 50 years. he was the first african american to play in major league baseball. in 1997, his career was honored and his jersey number, 42, was retired. -
Period: to
civil rights movements
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brown v. board of education supreme court ruling
supreme court case that the supreme court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and it wasn't long after this that the ruling expanded to the public. -
the death of emmett louis till
a 14 year old boy on vacation, who supposedly flirted with a white woman at a store. 3 nights later the woman's husband and brother took till from his bed, beat him nearly to death, shot him, and dumped his body into the tallahatchie river, tied to a cotton gin fan with barbed wire. an all white jury found the men innocent of murder. -
montgomery bus boycott
mass protest against the montgomery bus system. it was a 381 day boycott, that showed MLK jr. as one of the most important leaders of this movement. rosa parks refused to give up her seat to a white man, and was arrested but later bailed out by a civil rights activist. this event was the beginning of the boycott. the buses depended on african american riders, who made up about 75 percent of the people who rode the buses. about 90 percent of the african american residents stayed off the buses. -
the death of willie edwards jr.
He was a truck driver, on his way to work when he was stopped by four Klansman. The men mistook him for another man. They believe the man they were after was dating a white woman so they forced Edwards at gunpoint to jump off a bridge into the Alabama river, and his body was found three months later. -
death of mack charles parker
he was 23 years old and accused of raping a white woman. and three days before his case went to trial a masked mob took him from his cell, beat him, nearly to death, shot him, and threw him in the pearl river. -
death of herbert lee
Lee worked with Bob Moses to help register black voters and was killed by a state legislator who stated it was self-defense and was never arrested. Louis Allen a black man who witnessed the murder was killed later on. -
death of cpl. roman ducksworth jr.
he was a black military police officer stationed in Maryland and was going to visit his sick wife when he was demanded off a bus by a police officer and shot dead. The officer may have mistaken Ducksworth for a “freedom rider” who was testing bus desegregation laws. -
death of addie mae collins, denise mcnair, carole robertson, and cynthia wesley
These girls were getting ready for the church service when a bomb exploded at the 16th St., Baptist Church. This bombing killed all four of the school age girls. The church was the center for civil rights meetings and marches. -
death of rev. bruce klunder
He was among civil rights activists who protested the building of a segregated school. They protested by placing their bodies in the way of construction equipment. He was crushed to death when a bulldozer backed over him. -
the death of james earl chaney, andrew goodman, and michael henry schwerner
these men were young civil rights workers, who were arrested by a deputy sheriff and then later released into the hands of Klansman who had already plotted their murders. They were shot, and their bodies were buried in the earthen dam. -
death of rev. james reeb
he was a Unitarian minister from Boston and was among many white clergyman who joined the selma marches after the attack by state troopers at the Edmund Pettus bridge. He was beaten to death by white men while he walked down the street. -
the assignation of MLK jr.
MLK jr was a major impact of the civil rights movement. he led many non-violent marches and protests, and also won a nobel peace prize. he was assassinated as he was getting ready to lead a demonstration in memphis.
