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Executive Order 9981
President Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9981 to end segregation in the Armed Forces. -
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Civil Rights Movement
Timeline of events in the Civil Rights Movement from 1948-1968 -
Brown v. Board of Education
Five cases are consolidated into one that is decided by the Supreme Court that will effectively end racial segregation in public schools.
Brown v Board of Education -
Emmett Till
Emmett Till was a 14 year old from Chicago that was brutally murdered in Mississippi for allegedly flirting with a white woman. The murderers were acquitted but the case brought national attention to the Civil Rights Movement. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. Her actions created a year-long boycott in Montgomery. She would go on to be an icon for the Civil Rights movement for her courage.
Rosa Parks -
Little Rock Nine
Nine black students known as the "Little Rock Nine" are blocked from integrating into Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. President Eisenhower sends federal troops to escort the students inside the building. -
Greensboro Sit-In
Four black college students in Greensboro, North Carolina refuse to leave a Woolsworth "whites only" lunch counter without being served. The Greensboro Four sparked sit-ins throughout the city and in other states to show a way to protest without violence.
Greensboro Sit-Ins -
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges, age 6, is escorted by four armed federal marshals as she becomes the first student to integrate William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. -
Freedom Rides
The first of many freedom rides where black and white activists known as freedom riders took bus trips through the South to protest segregated bus terminals and attempted to use "white-only" restrooms and lunch counters. Although the freedom rides were met with violence from white protestors, they drew national attention for their cause. -
March on Washington
Approximately 250,000 people take part in the March on Washington for jobs and freedom. Martin Luther King gives his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of Lincoln Memorial.
I Have a Dream -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law preventing employment discrimination due to race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. Title VII of the Act establishes the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to help prevent workplace discrimination. -
Bloody Sunday
In the Selma to Montgomery March, around 600 civil rights marchers walk from Selma, Alabama to the state Capital in Montgomery in protest of black voter suppression. Local police block and brutally attack them. After successfully fighting in court for their right to march, Martin Luther King and other leaders finally reach Montgomery on March 25. -
MLK Assassination
Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated on the balcony of his hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray is convicted of murder for the shooting.