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Montgomery Bus Boycott
After learning of Rosa Paks's arrest, JoAnn Robinson, head of a local organization called the Women's Political Council, called African Americans to boycott Montgomery's buses on the day Rosa Parks appeared in court. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
Intended to protect the right of African Americans to vote. Created a civil rights division within the Departmnt of Justice. It gave the court authority to seek court inunctions against anyone interfering with the right to vote. -
Little Rock 9
School board in Little Rock Arkansas won a court order requiring that nine African American students be admitted to Central High. Central High had 2,000 white students. Governor of Arkansas ordered the National Guard to prevent the nine students from entering the school. Eisenhower immediately sent the Screaming Eagles to force the students into the school. -
The Sit-In Movement
Four young African American students of North Carolina Agricultural and Techincal College agreed to sit-in at the whites-only lunch counter in the nearby Woolworth's Department Store. They sat at the counter until it closed. The bext day, twenty nine African AMerican students arrived at Woolworth's. By the end of the week over 300 students participated. Within two months, fifty four cities held sit-ins. -
The Freedom Riders
CORE leader James Farmer asked teams of African American and white volunteers, mostly college students, to travel to the south to draw attention to its refusal to integrate bus terminals. These teams became known as the Freedom Riders. When the buses arrived in Birmingham, Montgomery, and Anniston, they were attacked by large white mobs, It was later discovered that the police commissioner of Birmngham had contacted the local KKK to beat the riders. -
James Meredith and the Desegregation of the University of Mississippi
An African American USAF veteran James Meredith applied to transfer to the University of Mississippi. The governor of MIssissippi refused. President Kennedy sent 500 marshals to escort Meredith. They were met by a large white mob and a riot erupted on campus. 160 marshals were wounded so President Kennedy sent Army troops to escort Meredith. Meredith attended classes under federal guard and graduated in August. -
Protests in Birmingham
King and his advisors noticed that the federal government only got involved when there was violence. So, they devised an idea to hold protests in Birmingham Alabama, thus leading to violent responses. Eight days after the protests began, King was arrested. After his release, the protests began again. The governor ordered police to use clubs, dogs, and fire hoses on the protestors. After seeing what's happening, President Kennedy ordered a new civil rights bill to be passed. -
March on Washington
King saw that Kennedy would hav trouble passing the new bill through Congress so, King and his advisors decided to hold a march on Washington. More than 200,000 people of all races came as they sang hymns, and gave speeches. This helped pass the bill thorugh Congress and gained popularity and followers of the movement. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act was the most comprehensive civil rights law ever enacted by Congress. It gave the federal government broad power to prevent racial descriminationn in a number of areas, making segregation illegal in public places and it gave citizens of all races equal access to public facilities. It also gave the US attorney general more power to bring lawsuits to force school desegregation and required private employers to end discrimination in the workplace, and created the EEOC. -
The Selma March
The SCLC and MLK selected Selma as a focal point for their campaign for voting rights. To prevent African Americans from voting, Sheriff Jim Clark had deputized an army of white citizens. Demonstrations in Selma led to the arrests of over 2,000 African Americans. led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
After witnessing what occurred in Selma, the House of Representatives passed the bill by a wide margin. Authorized the US attorney general to send federal examiners to register qualified voter, bypassing local officials. It also suspended discriminatory devices such as literacy tests in counties where less than half of all adults had been registered voters. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
While standing on his hotel baclony in Memphis, Tennessee, King was shot by a sniper. The assassination triggered riots and national mourning. This forced the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
