Civil Rights Movement

By shaunrt123

  • End of segregation in the Armed Services

    President Harry Truman issues Executive Order 9981 to end segregation in the Armed Services

  • Brown vs. Board of Education

    Effectively ended segregation in public schools but not all.

  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white man on an Alabama bus which begins the boycott.

  • Coordination of nonviolent protests

    Sixty black pastors and civil rights leaders from several southern states including Dr. King meet in Atlanta to coordinate nonviolent protests against racial discrimination and segregation

  • The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was signed

    President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 into law to help protect voter rights. This law allows federal prosecution of those who suppress another's right to vote

  • Black Students refuse to leave "Whites only" lunch counter

    Four black college students in Greensboro, NC refuse to leave a Woolworth's "whites only" lunch counter without being served. This demonstration sparked similar "sit-ins" throughout the city and in other states.

  • The Governor blocks two black students from registering

    Governor George C. Wallace stands in a doorway at the University of Alabama to block two black students from registering. The standoff continues until the arrival of the National Guard.

  • Bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church

    At a baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama a bombing took place which killed four young girls and injuries several other people prior to sunday services. This event fueled angry protestors.

  • The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed

    This law prevents employment discrimination due to race, color, sex, religion or national origin.

  • The assassination of Malcolm X

    Black religious leader Malcolm X is assassinated during a rally held by members of the Nation of Islam.

  • Selma to Montgomery March

    Around 600 civil rights marchers walk from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in protest of black voter suppression. During this event they were blocked and brutally attacked by police officers.

  • Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed

    This law prevents the use of literacy tests as a voting requirement.

  • The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

    Civil Rights leader Dr. King is assassinated on the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis, TN.

  • The Civil Rights Act of 1968 is signed

    This law provides equal housing opportunity regardless of race, religion or national origin