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Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka
Supreme Court overturns Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of separate but equal educational institutions. Outlaws segregation in schools. -
Emmett Till Murdered
Emmett Till (from Chicago) visits uncle and cousins in Mississippi, says something to a white woman while leaving a store, and is brutally murdered that evening. -
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Montgomery Bus Boycotts
Rosa Parks refuses to give up seat for white person and sparks the boycott. 40,000 people participate. Federal ruling to desegregate buses on December 20, 1956 ends the boycott. -
Little Rock 9 (Arkansas)
Nine black students attempt to go to school at Central High and are blocked by the National Guard in support of segregationists. -
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Greensboro Sit-Ins
Diane Nash and other young adults train in non-violent workshops in preparation for sit-ins at lunch counters where they are refused service. Contributing factor to the formation of SNCC. Maintained non-violence despite being attacked by whites. -
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Albany, Georgia Movement
SNCC attempts to desegregate an entire community in Albany and bring in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and SCLC to help organize civil rights organizations in organizing the efforts. The national attention moving on and off of the movement coupled with the differences between SNCC and SCLC cause an ineffective movement. -
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Birmingham, Alabama campaign
SCLC and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. attempt to peacefully demonstrate, but Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor uses police dogs and fire hoses to break up protests. King is jailed and writes powerful letter from jail and states, "Justice too long delayed is justice denied." -
March on Washington
200,000 people march on Washington as the Kennedy administration prepares to pass sweeping Civil Rights legislation. Peaceful and festive day. Encourages and motivates the civil rights movement. -
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers "I Have a Dream" speech
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers the famous motivating and encouraging speech, in which he described his dream of a colorblind society "when all God's children" would be free and equal. -
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Selma to Montgomery Marches
Peaceful protestors march and encounter many brutal confrontations with state troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridget. Marches garner national attention and outrage over the brutality encountered by the marchers. President Lyndon Johnson goes on national television and called for a strong federal voting rights law. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Signed into law by President Johnson. Regulation of voting rights was usually left to states, however, federal government regulates by passing this Act. It banned literacy tests and empowered the federal government to oversee voting registration and elections in states that had discriminated against minorities. -
MLK Jr. Assassinated
MLK Jr. was in Memphis to provide assistance to sanitation workers who were striking for better wages and working conditions, as part of the "Poor People's Campaign" with the goal of pressuring the nation in addressing the needs of the poor. He was assassinated in Memphis outside of his motel room at the age of 39. Ex-convict James Earl Ray is charged with King's murder.