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Supreme court rules that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional.The decision overturns the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling for separate but equal segregation of the races.
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City-wide bus boycott is launched by black civil rights supporters, in response to the arrest of African American woman, Rosa Parks. Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man.
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The group known as the Little Rock Nine were a group of African American students envolved in the desegregation of schools. Upon arrival to Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas, their entrance was blocked by order of the governor until federal troops were sent per President Eisenhower's request.
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In a non violent protest to segreagation, four African American students sat down at a white's only lunch counter. This lead to many more of this type of "sit ins" in various integrating locations including parks, pools, libraries, and theaters.
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The ICC orders an end to segregation on interstate transportation and transportation facilities. A series of "freedom rides" are implemented as anti-segregation demonstration to test the new law. Students led by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Comittee (SNCC) ,volunteer to take interstate bus rides through the south.
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Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his famous "I have a dream..." speech as he lead the march on Washington for jobs and freedom. It was the largest demonstration ever seen in the nation's capital.
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President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. The law also gives the government power to enforce desegregation.
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Congress passes the voting rights act. African Americans are no longer required to pass literacy tests or pay poll taxes to vote.
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Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader, is assassinated in Memphis, TN, from his hotel balcony.
