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Brown v. Board of Education
Thirteen parents filed a law suit against the Board of Education in Topeka Kansas to overturn the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision to allow state sponsored segregation. In a landmark decision the Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitution and overturned the 1896 ruling. -
Desegregated Schools
The US Supreme court orders desegregation of public schools. This decision did not abolish segregation in other public areas, such as restaurants and restrooms, and it didn't require desegregation of public schools by a specific time. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks is thrown out of a bus and arrested for refusing to give her seat up to a white man. This triggered a boycott of Montgomery's city buses. -
Southern Christian Leadership Conference created
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. is elected president of the SCLC which is created to work for full equality for African Americans. -
The Little Rock Nine
Nine outstanding black students are selected to attend the previously all white Little Rock Central High School. The Little Rock nine were escorted onto campus by the Army due to threats and protests. The year was filled with physical and verbal abuse for all nine students. -
Woolworth Sit Ins
In Greensboro, North Carolina, 4 African American college students sat at a whites only counter and ordered food. The staff refused to serve them. The 4 student stayed at the counter until the store closed. The next day they repeated the sit in with more than 20 people. Day 3 had more than 60 people and by the fourth day more than 300 people sat in. The sit in spread to other southern cities resulting in the closing of some white only counters and the desegregation of others. -
The Freedom Riders
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized the Freedom Rides in an effort to desegregate interstate public buses. 7 blacks and 6 whites boarded a bus in Washington DC and headed to the segregated south. During the rides they were beaten and fire bombed by southern protesters. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington was the largest march for human rights in US history. More than 200,000 people marched from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his I Have a Dream speech. -
Civil Rights Act signed
Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights act that would outlaw major forms of discrimination against blacks and women, including racial segregation. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, workplaces and facilities that served the public. -
MLK wins Nobel Peace Prize
At the age of 35, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in America. Dr. King donated the prize money to the Civil Rights Movement. -
Selma to Montgomery Marches
More than 500 civil rights marchers left Selma to march to Montgomery Alabama in an effort to draw attention to the violation of their voting rights. While marching they encountered State Troopers who beat them with billy clubs and sprayed them with tear gas leading to the first march being nicknamed "Bloody Sunday". The televised images of the brutal attack led to more supporters for the civil rights movement. This march was followed by two more, one which was led by Martin Luther King Jr. -
Voting Rights Act
A variety of civil rights organizations worked together in an effort to ensure black voting rights. In March of 1965 President Johnson sent the bill to congress and the bill passes on May 26 and ensured voting rights to all. -
MLK Assassinated
While in Memphis supporting the African American sanitation workers protest, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot outside his hotel room. He was pronounced dead an hour later. The assassination led to riots in more than 100 cities. -
The Equal Employment Oppurtunity Act
The Equal Employment Oppurtunity Act amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act ensures the fair treatment of all members of society regardless of race, religion, color, gender or national origin. The goal of this act is to make discrimination by employers illegal. -
MLK National Holiday
President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that created a federal holiday that would honor Dr Martin Luther King Jr. The holiday is observed the third monday of January each year.
