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Jackie Robinson Breaks The Color Barrier in Professional Baseball
Jackie Robinson makes his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers becoming the first African-American to play in the major leagues. -
President Harry S. Truman Racially Integrates The Military
Truman signs Executive Order 9981 abolished racial discrimination in the armed forces -
Supreme Court Rules On Brown v. Board of Education
The Supreme Court has nine justices. The vote on Brown v. Board of Education was unanimous, meaning that all nine justices voted the same way. The ruling in the case was written by Earl Warren, who was Chief Justice. He said “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." This undid an earlier decision called Plessy v. Ferguson, which said that separate but equal was acceptable. This decision made racial segregation of schools against the law in every US state. Some states resisted -
Attempted Integration of the University of Alabama by Autherine Lucy
Autherine Lucy, an African American trying to enroll in the University of Alabama, caused a near riot when hostile whites tried to prevent her from going to class. The school suspended her and later expelled her -
Little Rock Crisis Begins
Orval Faubus, governor of Arkansas sends Arkansas National Guard to Central High School in Little Rock to prevent integration by nine black students. A large hostile crowd also appeared in front of the school to intimidate the students -
Sit-In In Greensboro Starts Trend
In Greensboro, North Carolina, four black students sat down in a Woolworth lunch counter to protest segregation in public facilities. These "sit-ins" would later spread to other states and cities. -
Non-Violent Sit Ins Attacked In Nashville, Tennessee
Sit ins in Nashville inspired by the ones in Greensboro on Feb , were attacked by racists who opposed integration. The protesters not the attackers were arrested and chose jail without bail. -
SNCC founded
SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) founded in 1960 in Shaw University in Raleigh, NC with the help of Ella Baker. This was the first major student movement -
Freedom Riders Attacked In Anniston, Alabama
Bus containing Freedom Riders is firebombed in Anniston, Alabama -
Freedom Riders Attacked In Birmingham, Alabama
Racially integrated Greyhound bus that arrived in Birmingham, Alabama terminal was greeted by an angry mob. The mob attacked passengers as they exited the bus. No police intervened. -
James Meredith Integrates The University of Mississippi
James Meredith integrating the University of Mississippi caused a disorder between U.S. marshals who were trying to protect him and white civilians who did'nt want integration. To stop the rioting, President Kennedy called in military police. -
Birmingham Campaign begins
Birmingham Campaign began with an effort mainly by children to integrate public accomodations . The police used firehoses, dogs and clubs to suppress the protest -
Integration of University of Alabama
James Hood and Vivian Malone integrated the University of Alabama although Governor George Wallace attempted to stand in the schoolhouse door and physically prevent it. -
Medgar Evers assassinated
Medgar Evers, field secretary of the Mississippi NAACP was assassinated by Byron de la Beckwith, a member of the White Citizens Council and Ku Klux Klan. Evers was instrumental in the integration of University of Mississippi and voter registration -
March on Washington
Civil rights event that help the cause, it was in this event that Martin Luther King gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. -
Start of Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer was an successful attempt to register blacks in Mississippi to vote, although many were beaten, arrested and killed. Freedom Summer resulted in passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 -
Racial Violence in St. Augustine
In St. Augustine, Florida protesters of segregation clashed with segregationist while trying to integrate the beach -
Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed
The Civil Rights Act was signed to put into effect the ending of segregation in public accomodations. Pres. Lyndon Johnson pushed this bill through Congress. -
"Bloody Sunday"
In the second Selma to Montgomery march, while attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge, marchers were attacked by Alabama state troopers and police. This resulted in a lot of injuries and planning for a third march. -
Watts Riots Begin In Watts, California
The Watts Riots were riots which lasted 6 days in August 1965 in Watts part of Los Angeles, California. 34 people died, 1,032 were hurt, and 3,952 went to jail. It was caused by the death of a 21 year old black man who was shot by police. It was the worst riot in Los Angeles history until the Los Angeles riots of 1992. -
Black Panther Party Founded
Black Panther Party was founded in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, this self-defense organization looked to secure the rights of blacks in urban areas
