Civil Rights Movement from 1943-1970

  • Brown vs. BOE

    The decision made by the Supreme Court in the Brown v. Board of Education case outlawed racial segregation in public schools and helped blacks eventually obtain better education.
  • Federal Interstate Commerce Commission

    The Federal Interstate Commerce Commission outlaws segregation on interstate buses as well as trains, promoting integration.
  • Rosa Parks

    Rosa Parks refused to stand up for a white man to sit and got arrested. This event helped start the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott.
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    The Montgomery Bus Boycott ends and Alabama buses were fully integrated, so blacks did not have to give up their seats.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1957

    The Civil Acts Act of 1957 made the Civil Rights Commission and allowed the Justice Department to investigate cases of African Americans being disenfranchised in the southern states.
  • SCLC

    The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is founded to fight for equal rights for all, with Dr. King elected as the first president; later, this organization would play a major role in other protests.
  • Sit-Ins

    In North Carolina, 4 students at the North Carolina Agriculture and Technical College go to a lunch counter and asked to be served. After being denied, they continue to sit quietly until the store closes; this caused many similar sit-ins and other protests in the South.
    Eventually, the lunch counter desegregated after the sit-ins continued for around half a year.
  • Albany Movement

    Activists try and protest for civil rights in Albany, Georgia to discourage racism and discrimination.
  • President Kennedy

    He orders the Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce stricter regulations for buses and other facilities to integrate.
  • Albany Movement

    Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. comes to Albany to support the cause and stays for three-quarters of a year, or nine months.
  • Birmingham, Alabama

    King works with the SCLC and the SNCC in a variety of protests in Birmingham, Alabama, to fight for equal rights, but he is arrested on April 12th, 1963.
  • "Letter From a Birmingham Jail"

    When ministers from Alabama tell Dr. King to be patient when trying to overturn segregation, he responds with this letter to support his actions for equality.
  • March on Washington

    The famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a famous nonviolent protest where almost 250,000 people attended. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his well-known "I Have a Dream" speech, moving many attendees.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

    Congress passes this act to prohibit discrimination in public areas and discrimination by race for employment, which was a major step towards ending segregation and discrimination.
  • Voting Rights Act

    President Lyndon B. Johnson declares all voting requirements that discriminate against race illegal, ensuring all who meet the basic requirements can vote, helping black men ensure their voting rights.