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Brown v. Board of Education
The Plessy v. Ferguson case allowed separate but egual facilities. In topeka Kansas, a young African American girl was denied admission to her neighborhood school. Her parents, with help from the NAACP, sued the school board. The Brown v. Board case ruled that segregation in public schools was unsonstitutional and it violated the fourteenth amendment. Therefore, the Supreme Court outlawed school segregation. -
The Death of Reverend George Lee
Killed for leading a voter registration drive. -
Murder of Lamar Smith
Murdered for organizing black voters. -
Murder of Emmett Louis Till
Murdered for speaking to a white woman. -
John Earl Reese Slain
Nightriders slay John who was opposed to school improvements. -
Rosa Parks Arrested for Refusing to Give up Her Bus Seat
Rosa was on her way home from work and she sat down on the bus behind the white section. All of the seats were filled and a white man walked on the bus. The bus driver noticed the man was standing and he ordered Rosa and three other African Americans to get up and let the man sit down. The other African Americans got up but Rosa refused. The bus driver called the police and they took Rosa into custody. Rosa challenged segregation in court and her actions launched the modern civil rights movement -
Bus Boycott
The Montgomery bus boycott begins. -
Ban of Segregated Seating
The Supreme Court banned segregated seating on Montgomery buses. -
Death of Willie Edwards Jr.
Klansmen killed Willie in Montgomery, Alabama. -
Civil Rights Act
Congress passed the first civil rights law since Reconstruction. The Civil Rights Act was intended to protect African American's right to vote. It's final form was weaker than this but still brought the government into the civil rights debate. It created a civil rights division in the Department of Justice and created the United States Commission on Civil Rights to investigate the denial of voting rights. The passing of the bill started a campaign to register 2 million African American voters. -
Enforcing Troops in Arkansas
The school board in Little Rock won a court order to admit nine African Americans to an all white high school.The governor ordered the National Guard to prevent the students from going to shcool. Mobs and riots broke out to protest against the students for going to school. All of the violence convinced President Eisenhower to send troops to the school which allowed the students to enter safely and they remained there the rest of the year. -
Lynching of Mack Charles Parker
Mack Charles was taken from jail and lynched. -
Sit-In at "Whites only" lunch counter
Black students stage a sit-in at a "whites only" lucnh counter in North Carolina. -
Outlaw of Segregation in Terminals
The Supreme Court outlaws segregation in bus terminals. -
Freedom Riders Attacked
Freedom Riders are teams of African Americans and whites that travelled to the South to bring attention to the refusal of integrating bus terminals. Freedom Riders were organized by the NAACP, SNCC (student nonviolent coordinating committee) and CORE. Freedom Riders consisted of African Americans and some whites, whoever believed in protecting the rights of African Americans and banishing segregation. -
Voter Registration Worker Killed
Herbert Lee was killed by a white legislator -
Civil Rights Groups Join Forces
The groups joined together to launch voter registration drive. -
Cpl.. Roman Ducksworth Jr. Killed
Ducksworth was taken from a bus and killed by police. -
James Merideth Enrolls at Ole Miss
When James Merideth attempted to enroll at Ole Miss the governor of Mississippi, Ross Barnett, blocked his path. He said that they would "never surrender to the evil and illegal forces of tyranny."Even though Merideth had a court order directing them to register him, they did not. President Kennedy sent 500 federal marshalls to get James to Ole Miss but mobs and riots broke out. This forced Kennedy to send more troops to the campus which ensured his safety and Merideth graduated later that year. -
Reporter Killed at Ole Miss Riot
Paul Guihard, a french reporter, was killed during an Ole Miss riot in Oxford, Mississippi -
William Lewis Moore Killed During One-Man March
William was slain during his one-man march against segregation in Alabama. -
Birmingham Police Attack Marching Children
The police attacked the marching children with dogs and fire hoses. -
George Wallace Stood in Schoolhouse Door
The Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, stands in a schoolhouse door in an attempt to stop university integration. -
Medgar Evers Assasinated
The Civil Rights Leader was assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi. He was a member of the NAACP and travelled a lot to encourage poor African Americans to register to vote and join the civil rights movement. One day he was getting out of his car in the driveway, and Byron De La Beckwith, a member of the KKK, shot and killed him. Byron however, was able to escape justice. -
The March on Washington
The March on Washington was a way to build more public support for the civil rights movement and to push Congress to pass the civil rights bill. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech. Around 250,000 Americans marched on Washington. -
Youth Killed During Racist Violence
Virgil Lamar Ware was killed during a wave of racist violence in Birmingham, Alabama. -
Four Schoolgirls Killed in Bombing
Addie Mae Collins, Denise Mcnair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley were all killed in the bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. -
Poll Tax Outlawed
Poll tax was outlawed in all federal elections. -
Witness to Murder of a Civil Rights Worker is Killed
Louis Allen was assassinated in Liberty Mississippi. She was a witness to the murder of a civil rights worker. -
Reverend Bruce Klunder Killed During Protest
Bruce was killed while protesting the constructuion of a segregated school. -
Two Men Killed by Klansmen
Henry Hezehiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore were killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan. -
Civil Rights Volunteers Travel to Mississippi
Freedom Summer brought 1,000 young civil rights volunteers to Mississippi. -
Civil Rights Workers Abducted and Slain
James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were abducted and killed my members of the Ku Klux Klan. -
The Signing of the Civil Rights Act
President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after Congress passed it. It gave the government power to prevent racial discrimination in some places and made segregation illegal in most public places. It gave the attorney general more power to bring lawsuits for school desegregation. The act established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which monitors job discrimination. -
Lieutenant Colonel Killed by Klansmen
Lemuel Penn was killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan while driving north in Colbert, Georgia. -
Civil Rights Marcher Killed
Jimmie Lee Jackson, a civil rights marcher, was killed by a state trooper in Marion, Alabama. -
State Troopers Beat Marchers
The troopers beat back marchers at Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. -
March Volunteer Beaten to Death
Reverend James Reeb was beaten to death after volunteering to march in Selma, Alabama. -
Woman Killed by Klansmen
Viola Gregg Liuzzo was killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan while transporting marchers in Alabama. -
Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March
Thousands of people completed the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March. The march was organized to obtain and secure voting rights for African Americans. They were met with armed white citizens who viciously attacked them. President Johnson saw the horrible things that were happening and proposed a new voting rights law soon after the march was completed. -
Black Deputy Killed by Nightriders
Oneal Moore, a black deputy, was killed by nightriders in Varnado, Louisiana. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Willie Brewster Killed by Nightriders
Willie was killed by nightriders in Anniston, Alabama. -
Seminary Student Killed by Deputy
Jonathan Daniels was killed by a deputy in Hayneville, Alabama. -
Student Civil RIghts Activist Killed
Samuel Younge Jr. was killed in dispute in Tuskegee, Alabama. -
Black Community Leader Killed in Klan Bombing
Vernon Dahmer was killed in a Ku Klux Klan bombing in Hattiesburg Mississippi. -
Ben Chester White Killed by Klansmen
Ben was killed by members of the KKK in Natchez, Mississippi. -
Clarence Triggs Slain by Nightriders
Nightriders killed Clarence in Bogalusa, Louisiana. -
Civil Rights Leader Killed After Promotion
Wharlest Jackson was killed after receiving a promotion to a 'white' job. -
Civil Rights Worker Killed When Police Fired on Protestors
Benjamin Brown, a civil rights worker, was killed when police fired on protestors in Jackson, Mississippi. -
Thurgood Marshall Becomes the First Black Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first black Supreme Court Justice. He was an attorney and the NAACP's cheif counsel and director of its Legal Defense and Education Fund. I think this event was so monumental because it showed the civil rights era was making progress since he got a rather important job. This provided hope for other African Americans and would start to convince other businesses to accept them as quality workers. -
Students Killed When Highway Patrolmen Fire on Protestors
Samuel Hammond Jr, Delano Middleton, and Henry Smith were killed when patrolmen fired on protestors in Orangeburg, South Carolina. -
The Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther Kin Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis Tennessee to support a strike. Dr. King was on his balcony when he was assassinated by a sniper. This caused mourning and riots to break out in more than 100 cities. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Dr. King's death made a large impact because he fought for what he and others believed in, equality. Some African Americans and whites stood together to fight segregation, and in a way, his death brought them closer together.
