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Founding of CORE
A group of students in Chicago founded the Congress of Racial Equality, a group devoted to nonviolent direct action as a means of change. -
Integration of the Military
Truman signed Executive Order 9981 in 1948 after WWII. It abolished racial discrimination in the United States Armed Forces and eventually led to the end of segregation in the services. -
Brown vs. Board of Education Decison
This ruling dismantled the legal basis for segregation in schools and other public places. It was one of the most important judicial decisions in the nation's history. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott Starts
A boycott that resulted in the integration of Montgomery, AL's bus system after 381 days. -
Little Rock Integration
Nine black students joined two thousand white students at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. -
Lunch Counter Sit-ins
Nonviolent demonstrations where civil rights protesters employed the tactic of civil disobedience to occupy seats at white-only lunch counters They were an example of civil disobedience, which was a strategy of nonviolence used by demonstrations to protest a law or a policy considered unjust. -
Freedom Riders
An interstate bus journey by black and white activists who entered segregated bus facilities going between states throughout the south. -
James Meredith enrolls at Ole Miss
James Meredith is the first African American student at Ole Miss after much debate and fighting for his rights. -
Birmingham Protests Start
Civil rights effort to desegregate Birmingham, AL, where shocking images of police brutality prompted Kennedy to push for a federal civil rights act. It was carefully planned by the SCLC so that there was plenty of television coverage. -
March on Washington
Massive demonstration in the nation’s capital that demanded passage of a federal civil rights act and more economic opportunities. Their slogan was "jobs and freedoms." This was where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I have a dream" speech. -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer was a multipronged attack on white supremacy in Mississippi that included a voter registration drive and the creation of Freedom Schools.Large numbers of northern whites were recruited to work on voter registration, hoping that the media visibility would protect the kids. Three workers were murdered, leading to massive manhunt. Afterward, violence began to erode people's commitment to nonviolence. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act was passed after President Kennedy's assassination while President Johnson was in office. I did two things: 1. Banned segregation in businesses and places open to the public (ex restaurants, public schools). 2. Prohibited racial and gender discrimination in employment -
Selma
Early the next year after Freedom Summer, the SCLC began to register black voters in Selma, AL. Many were arrested for protesting, so the SCLC called for a march from Selma to the capital of Montgomery, AL. This march led to another day of televised violence that outraged many Americans and led to more support for the Civil Rights movement. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a piece of legislation that prohibited literacy tests and poll taxes, plus authorized the use of federal registrars to register voters if states failed to respect the Fifteenth Amendment. -
MLK Assassination
Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination led to three weeks of urban riots and upheaval, which diminished white support while the civil rights movement lost its most prominent spokesman.
