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Truman Signs Executive Order 9981
President Truman signed the Executive Order 9981. This abolished racial discrimination in the United States Armed Forces. African Americans played an important role in the armed forces. The Navy was the most accommodating branch of service. The U.S. Army opposed intergration in the armed services. -
Ruling on the Brown v. Board Education
The Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. This ruling paved the way for more desegregation. This ruling overturned the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case of separate but equal. Chief Justice on this case was Earl Warren. Case took place in Topeka, Kansas. -
Emmett Till
Emmett Till was 14 and from Chicago. He went to visit family in Mississippi when he was kidnapped. He was brutally beaten, shot, and dumped in the Tallahatchie River. He allegedly whistled at a white woman. Two men J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant were arrested and acquitted by an all white jury. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on the bus. She was arrested. In response to her arrest the Montgomery black community launches a bus boycott. This boycott lasted a year. Buses were desegragated December 21, 1956. -
Little Rock Nine
Nine black students are blocked from entering the school on the orders of Governor Orval Faubus. Faubus announced he would call in the national gaurd to prevent the black students from entry into the school. He said it was for their own protection. The black students eventually attended the school after President Eisenhower intervened. Took place in Arkansas. -
Sit-In
Four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. They were refused service, but still stayed at the counter. This event triggers many similar nonviolent proteses throughout the South. Six months later the same four blacks were given service at the same counter. Student sit-ins became effective throughtout the South. -
Freedom Riders
Civil Rights activists begin taking bus trips through the South to test out new laws that prohibit segregation in interstate travel facilities. They called themselves Freedom Riders. They were attacked by angry mobs along the way. The first Freedom Ride took place on May 4, 1961. There were 13 freedom riders. -
Letter From Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King Jr. is arrested and jailed during an anti-segregation protest. It was a non-vilent protest. He was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama. He writes his influentual "Letter from Birmingham Jail. He argued that individuals have moral duty to disobey unjust laws. -
March on Washington
Took place in Washington, D.C. About 200,000 people joined the March on Washington. They all met at the Lincoln Memorial. All the participants listen as Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. His most famous speech of all time. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment abolishes the poll tax. The poll tax had been instituted in 11 southern states after Reconstruction. It made it difficult for poor blacks to vote. Southern states didn't want many blacks to vote so they created the poll tax.The tax was part of the Jim Crow laws.
