-
The U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the racist policy of segregation by legalizing “separate but equal” facilities for blacks and whites.
-
W.E.B Du Bois founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. A number of African Americans joined with prominent white reformers in New York
-
One of the most offensive films ever made was released. The film was directed by D.W. Griffith
-
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimous decision that overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine in public schools.
-
Emmett Till was murdered in Money, Mississippi.
-
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery City Bus and was arrested.
-
The Montgomery Bus Boycott begins.
-
The Little Rock 9 enter Central High School as federal troops oversee the situation sent by President Eisenhower.
-
Ruby Bridges was the first African American student to integrate an elementary school in the south. At the age of six she attended William Frantz Elemantry School.
-
4 black college students sat at an all-white lunch counter and started a sit-in protest at a Woolworth’s store.
-
Freedom riders begin a bus ride through the South to protest segregation.
-
James meredith became the first African American student to enroll at the University of Mississppi
-
Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham protesting in the “most segregated city in America.”
-
Medgar Evers was shot in the back in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississppi. he was killed by white supremacist Bryan De La Beckwith.
-
More than 250,000 people, march on Washington to demand immediate passage of the civil rights bill.
-
The United States ratified the 24th amendment which prohibited poll tax
-
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the premier legislation for Civil Rights into law.
-
In Watts, California one week after the voting rights act was signed riots broke out. Lasting six days there were 34 deaths and over 1100 injured.
-
During a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in New York Malcolm X was shot and killed by members of the Nation of Islam
-
A march from Selma to Montgomery to fight for voting rights begins.
-
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law outlawing literacy tests.
-
Huey Newton & Bobby Seale founded the “Black Power” political group known as the Black Panthers.
-
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis.
-
During the medal ceremony at the Olympics in Mexico City Tommy Smith and Jon Carlos show support by holding up black fists during the National Anthem
-
Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in the MLB. He died for a heart attack in North Stamford Connecticut.
