Civil Rights Movement Timeline

Little Rock 9 and the Desegregation of Schools

Sep 4, 1952

Nine African American children were sent to an all white school. Orval Fabus, the governor of Arkansas, ordered troops from the Arkansas National Guard to prevent them from entering the school. After a conference between Eisenhower and Faubus, the district court ordered the governor to remove the troops.
Federal authority had been upheld, but the troops had to stay in Little Rock for the rest of the school year.

Brown v. Board of Education

May 17, 1954

A young African American girl named Linda Brown, was denied admission to her neighborhood school in Topeka, Kansas, because of her race. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Dec 5, 1955

A boycott in Montgomery, Alabama lead by Martin Luther King Jr where African American people refused to ride the city bus. They protested very peacefully. This resulted in the Supreme Court ruling segregation on public buses unconstitutional.

The Sit-In Movement

Feb 1, 1960

Lead by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the group pushed to be served and seated at the same places as white people. They worked to desegregate the south.

Freedom Riders

May 4, 1961

Freedom riders were activists who rode the busses. They worked to stop segregation on the bus system but many of them got beat or murdered. They caused Federal Government to enforce federal law for the integration of interstate travel.

James Meredith and the Desegregation of Southern Universities

Oct 2, 1962

James Meredith was an African American air force veteran who applied for a transfer to the University of Mississippi. To ensure his safety, JFK dispatched 500 federal marshals to escort Meredith to the campus. He lead to many more African Americans getting into Southern Universities.

Malcolm X and the Civil Rights Movement

1963

Malcom X was an African American rights activist during the civil rights movement. He believed black people were "God's chosen people" and urged them to protect themselves against white aggression “by any means necessary". He was later killed for criticizing Islam.

The March on Washington

Aug 28, 1963

The March on Washington was a large protest advocating for African American rights and representation from congress. Martin Luther King gave his famous, "I have a Dream" speech here. The Civil Rights Bill was passed because of this.

Voter Registration Among Minorities

Aug 6, 1965

The problem was that even though African Americans had the right to vote, if they tried to they would be beat or killed. They held the Selma March to protest for better voting rights. It resulted in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which authorized the U.S. attorney general to send federal examiners to register qualified voters, bypassing local officials who often refused to register African Americans.

Urban Problems and the Black Panthers

Oct 15, 1966

Many African Americans lived in overcrowded, dirty communities and were given very few job opportunities.
The Black Panthers were a group that thought that black people deserved more than white people and that black people should live in a separate, self-governing community.