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Brown v. Board of Education
This was a case in which the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The decision declared that separate educational facilities for white and African American students were essentially unequal. -
The Murder of Emmett Till
14 year old Emmett Till was brutally murdered while visiting his family in Money, Mississippi. He was murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman. The men in charge of his murder were the white woman's husband and his brother, they beat him nearly to death, shot him in the head and then threw his body into the river. -
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery, Alabama bus
In 1955, African Americans were still required by a Montgomery, Alabama, city law to sit in the back half of city buses and to give their seats to white riders if the front half of the bus, reserved for whites, was full. Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was seated in the front row of the “colored section.” When the white seats filled, the driver, J. Fred Blake, asked her to give up her seat, but she refused. She was then arrested and fined for refusing to give her seat to a white man. -
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine Black students who during the summer of 1957, enrolled at Little Rock Central High School. The school had been all white until then. The students’ effort to enroll was supported by the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which had declared segregated schooling to be unconstitutional. -
Greensboro Sit-Ins
The Greensboro sit-in was a civil rights protest that started when young African American students arranged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and refused to leave after being denied service. Many of the protesters were arrested for things such as trespassing and disturbing the peace, but their actions made an immediate and long lasting impact which forced Woolworth’s and other establishments to change their segregationist policies. -
Ruby Bridges at William Frantz Elementary School
Ruby Bridges was a 6 year old girl who was the first black student to attend William Frantz Elemenatry School, which only accepted white students before. -
Freedom Rides throughout the American South
Freedom Rides were a series of political protests against segregation by blacks and whites who rode buses together through the American South in 1961. The Freedom riders encountered violence in different states such as South Carolina and Alabama, there was a case were one bus was even firebombed and the riders were beaten. After this, National Guard support was provided when 27 Freedom Riders continued on to Jackson, Mississippi, only for them to be arrested and jailed. -
March on Washington, D.C.
The March on Washington was a massive protest march. Around 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The march is also known as the march for Jobs and Freedom, the intention of the march was to draw attention to continuing challenges and inequalities faced by African Americans. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson. The act prohibited segregation in businesses such as theaters, restaurants, and hotels. It banned discriminatory practices in employment and ended segregation in public places such as swimming pools, libraries, and public schools. -
Bloody Sunday
On this event, police and state troopers violently attacked civil rights marchers attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. More than 15 marchers were hospitalized for injuries suffered in this event known as "Bloody Sunday." The march was intended to draw attention to the violations of civil and voting rights in Alabama and throughout the South.