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Plessy V. Ferguson
Louisiana had recently passed the Separate Car Act, which required blacks and whites to be on separate railroad cars. Homer Plessy was asked to sit on an "all whites" train car even though he was one-eighth black. When he was asked to leave the train car, he refused and was arrested. Plessy's lawyers argued that the Separate Car Act was unconstitutional, and that all citizens should have equal access to civil rights. The picture shows the site where Plessy was actually arrested. -
NACCP
The National Association for the Advanced of Colored People(NAACP) was established in 1909 and is the oldest and largest civil right organization. It was formed in New York City by an interracial group of activists. They formed due to the ongoing violence that was happening to African Americans. Ten years after they formed they had over 90,000 members. This group had a key role in Brown v. Board of Education as they eliminated segregation in public schools. This picture shows the logo. -
Harry Truman's Executive Order 9981
In the military at the time, blacks were treated very differently from whites. President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981 on July 26th, and abolished racial discrimination in the military and eventually ended segregation in the services. -
Brown vs Board of Education
In 1951, Oliver Brown filed the case against the board of Education in Topeka, Kansas when his daughter was denied entrance to a white elementary school. In the case Brown argued that the segregated schools were against the 14th amendment.This case was sent to the Supreme court and it was ruled unanimously against segregation of public schools.This was a huge landmark in the Civil Rights Movement. Now anyone of any race can go to any school they want to go. This is how the Supreme Court ruled. -
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine black students who went to school at a formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas called the Arkansas National Guard to block the students from entering the school on September 4th, the first day of class. President Dwight D. Eisenhower helped the Little Rock Nine enter the school by sending in federal troops. -
Freedom Ride
In May of 1961 a group of 13 people(7 African Americans and 6 whites) hopped on a bus to protest against segregation in public areas in the South. They went to “whites only” bathrooms, lunch counters, waiting areas, etc. This group was violently attacked everywhere they went. Everywhere they went the Freedom Riders got more and more popular. Later they were arrested for 30 days for trespassing. This is one of the attacks the Freedom Riders faced. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington was probably one of the most memorable protests in the U.S., with over 250,000 people gathering in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Martin Luther King Jr. also gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech at this protest. The crowd was about 75-80% black, and most of them were protesting for freedom and jobs. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed due to this protest. -
24th Admendment
In 1962 the House of Representatives passed the 24th Amendment. They voted 295 to 86 in favor of the Amendment. This outlawed poll tax and allowed African Americans the right to vote for free. Even though it wasn’t much money to pay to vote in stopped poor African Americans to vote. African Americans now had the opportunity to vote freely. This shows many people protesting against poll tax. -
"Bloody Sunday"
About 600 civil rights marchers left Selma to head for Montgomery, AL. They were stopped six blocks away from Selma, got beat, and then were moved back. On Sunday, March 21, 3,200 marchers set out for Montgomery, and by the time they reached their destination, they had about 25,000 supporters. President Lyndon Johnson then signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Black Panthers
The Black Panthers were a political organization to challenge police brutality against African Americans. The Black Panthers organized armed citizens patrols in many U.S. cities. At one point the organization had over 2,000 members in it. The Black Panthers later separated due to deadly shootouts and the FBI stepping in to stop them. This group was very violent as they killed a few police officers while on patrol. This is one of the weapons the Black Panthers were armed with.
