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Beginning of Segregation
Jim Crow Laws enforce strict seperation of races. Segregation imposed by law is de jure segregation. -
President Roosevelt Takes Charge
President Roosevelt bans discrimination in defense industries. -
An American Dilemma is Published
Gunnar Myrdal's An American Dilemma is published. The book brought the issue of American prejudice to everyone's attention. -
Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson joins Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first African American to play major league baseball. -
Desegregation of Military
President Truman orders desegregation in military. -
Rosa Parks Makes a Stand
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott began the day Rosa Parks was escorted off the bus. During this time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. begins to address crowds about segregation. -
Prayer Pilgrimmage
The SCLC organized Prayer Pilgrimmage in Washington which helped Congress to pass civil rights legislation. -
Little Rock Arkansas
Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas is desegregated. Nine African American students are integrated into the school for the first time. -
Sit Ins Begin
Four African American college students sit in at a restaurant to protest against segregation. -
Freedom Riders
A group of African Americans, known as the Freedom Riders, ride buses from D.C. to the deep south to test new desegration laws in transportation. -
Ole Miss Integration
James Meredith enrolls at University of Mississippi. -
King Runs the Risks
King joins demonstration personally and gets put in jail. -
President Kennedy Supports Civil Rights
Kennedy delivers moving televised address about civil rights. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington occurs to support civil rights. -
Bombing
A bomb explodes on Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. -
JFK Assassinated
President John F. Kennedy is assassinated. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act banned segregation in public accomodations and gave federal government the ability to compel state and local school boards to desegregate their schools. -
Bloody Sunday
"Bloody Sunday" marchers and protestors are attacked by the police on bridges. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned literacy tests and empowered the federal government to oversee voting registration and elections in states that had discriminated against minorities. -
Black Power
Malcolm X begins the start of Black Power, a stand African Americans took to stand up against racism. -
Another Assassination
King is assassinated.
