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Montgomery Bus Boycott
African americans refused to ride the city buses in Montgomery, Alabama to protest segregated seating, took place from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956. -
Little Rock Central High School desegregated
Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prevent African American students from enrolling at Central High School. Central High was an all white school. -
Jfk elected
At the age of 43, Kennedy was the youngest man elected president and the first Catholic. -
Lunch counter protests
10 men sat at a "whites only" counter in Rock Hill, South Carolina in a protest against segregation. They were arrested and nine were sentenced to 30 days labor on a chain gang. -
Freedom riders oppose segregation
A group of 13 African American and white civil rights activists launched the Freedom Rides, a series of bus trips through the American South to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals -
Desegregation drive in Birmingham
drive in Birmingham Martin Luther King Jr and SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) oppose local laws that support segregation. Riots, fire-bombing, and police are used against protestors -
"Letter from Birmingham jail"
In response to white ministers who urge him to stop causing disturbances, King issues articulate statement of nonviolent resistance to wrongs of American society -
Medgar Evers murdered
Head of Mississippi NAACP is shot outside his home on the same night that Pres. Kennedy addresses the nation on race, -
March on Washington
March on Washington
More than 200,000 blacks and whites gather before Lincoln Memorial to hear speeches Including King's "I Have a Dream" and protest racial injustice -
Bombing of Birmingham church
Bombing of the church
4 black girls were killed by the bomb planted in church, and many other people injured; outrage over the incident and the violent clash between protesters and police. -
24th Amendment passed
citizens in some states had to pay a fee to vote in a national election. This fee was called a poll tax. -
Selma to Montgomery march
Martin Luther king Jr leads 54-mile march to support black voter registration. Despite attacks from police and interference from Gov. Wallace, marchers reach Montgomery. -
Voting Rights Act approved
Voting rights act
Southern black voter registration grows by over 50% and black officials are elected to various positions. In Mississippi, black voter registration grew from 7% to 67% -
Watts Riots
raged for six days and resulted in more than forty million dollars worth of property damage, Marquette Frye, a young African American motorist, was pulled over and arrested by Lee W. Minikus, a white California Highway Patrolman, for suspicion of driving while intoxicated -
King assassinated
Martin luther king jr's Last speechWhile supporting sanitation workers' strike which had been marred by violence in Memphis, King is shot by James Earl Ray. Riots result in 125 cities
