Civil Rights Movement Timeline

  • Brown v. Board of Education

    Brown v. Board of Education

    The lawful triumph in the Brown vs. Board of Education didn't change the nation in the short term, and much work remains. In any case, taking down Segregation in the country's government-funded schools gave a significant boost to the civil rights movement, making potential advances in integrating lodging, public facilities, and foundations of advanced education.
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    Montgomery Bus Boycott

    Led by Martin Luther King, Jr., this 381-day boycott resulted in the Supreme Court ruling segregation on public buses unconstitutional. This was a huge advancement in the civil rights movement as it removed the barriers that lay on public transportation.
  • Little Rock 9 and the Desegregation of Schools

    Little Rock 9 and the Desegregation of Schools

    The governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, was known as a moderate on racial issues, but he was determined to win reelection and began to campaign as a defender of white supremacy. He ordered troops from the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the nine students from entering the school. The next day, the troops sent by JFK were ordered to surround the school and to protect the 9 students. The troops stayed there the entire year.
  • The Sit-In Movement

    The Sit-In Movement

    Formed by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), this nonviolent movement showed that nonviolent protests could be successful and it also caught the attention of the media. It affected the civil rights movement in a huge way as it introduced a new way of protesting for civil rights. This method was used to organize efforts for desegregation and voter registration throughout the South.
  • Freedom Riders

    Freedom Riders

    Due to a Supreme Court decision that declared segregated facilities for interstate passengers illegal, about 400 volunteers, who called themselves the Freedom Riders challenged this decision by riding interstate buses in the South in mixed racial groups to challenge local laws or customs that enforced segregation in seating. This caused massive violence against the freedom riders, resulting in the credibility of the civil rights movement to increase.
  • James Meredith and the Desegregation of Southern Universities

    James Meredith and the Desegregation of Southern Universities

    James Meredith was an African American air force veteran who applied to the Mississippi University and was denied admission by the headmaster. Frustrated by this, Kennedy ordered the army to send several thousand troops to the campus. For the rest of the year, Meredith attended classes at the University of Mississippi under federal guard. He graduated in August. His enrollment into this University was a well known keystone in the Civil rights movement.
  • The March on Washington

    The March on Washington

    The March on Washington impacted the civil rights movement by demonstrating a united front of a variety of minorities across the United States who all came together to protest about the racial and economic unjust that was prevalent in America at the time. This is also the place where MLK gave some of his most memorable speeches in front of the white house.
  • Voter Registration Among Minorities

    Voter Registration Among Minorities

    As African Americans tried to vote they faced many hurdles. As the SCLC and SNCC stepped up their voter registration efforts in the South, their members were often attacked and beaten, and several were murdered. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was then later established, and it authorized the U.S. attorney general to send federal examiners to register qualified voters, bypassing local officials who often refused to register African Americans.
  • Malcolm X and the Civil Rights Movement

    Malcolm X and the Civil Rights Movement

    Malcolm X believed that blacks and whites should be separated. He believed that Blacks should return to Africa, and in the meantime, a separate country for black people in America should be created.
  • Urban Problems and the Black Panthers

    Urban Problems and the Black Panthers

    Many African Americans living in urban poverty knew the civil rights movement had made enormous gains, but when they looked at their own circumstances, nothing seemed to be changing. The Black Panthers believed that a revolution was necessary in the United States, and they urged African Americans to arm themselves and prepare to force whites to grant them equal rights.

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