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Plessy v. Ferguson
Constitutional court case of the US Supreme Court that ultimately upheld racial segregation laws under the idea of "separate but equal". -
Formation of the NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was a US Civil Rights Organization that advanced justice for African Americans. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Landmark Supreme Court case in the early 1950s that revoked the ideas of Plessy v. Ferguson and declared the "separate but equal" ideology to be unconstitutional. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
This was a staple event in the Civil Rights Movement that involved a social protest through boycotting the public transportation systems in the South due to their racial seating segregation. -
Formation of SCLC
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference worked towards non-violent resistance to racism, most well known for its first president, Martin Luther King, Jr. -
Integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas
Nine black teenagers chose to enroll in a formerly all-white academy in Little Rock, Arkansas to become the first black students to act on the integrated education. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 helped drive home the fact that no one could deny any person's right to vote based on race. This banned all needs to question voters and acted as a major step in the Civil Rights Movement. -
Boynton v. Virginia
US Supreme Court case which overturned a decision to convict a black law student for trespassing in a presumably "whites only" restaurant. -
Greensboro Sit-In
The Greensboro Sit-Ins were a series of nonviolent protests due to the racial segregation of lunch counters in the Woolworth Dept. Store chain, ultimately ending with the removal of this policy after 5 months. -
Formation of SNCC
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, formed from a student meeting hosted by Ella Baker, focused on increasing the number of students who participated in the Civil Rights Movement. -
First Freedom Ride
A plan of 13 Freedom Riders who rode public transportation buses through Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to protest the segregated bus systems. -
James Meredith enrolls in Ole Miss
In 1962, James Meredith became the first black man to enroll in the University of Mississippi, causing riots between activists and ultimately ending in the shooting of Meredith. -
Birmingham Protests
A protest movement in early 1963 organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to help promote the integration efforts of black people in the South. -
March on Washington
This event was one of the most crucial moments of the Civil Rights Movement and consisted of over 200,000 Americans gathering in Washington, D.C. to draw attention to the need for racial justice and equality. Many civil rights and religious groups helped to organize the event and brought their leaders to speak, of which the most notable speaker was Martin Luther King, Jr. and his "I Have A Dream" speech. -
24th Amendment Passed
The 24th Amendment, passed in January of 1964, prohibited the action of imposing polling taxes on voting polls to prevent people from voting. -
Freedom Summer
A volunteer campaign in 1964 also known as the Mississippi Summer Project that had the intention of registering as many black voters as possible in Mississippi. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act, considered one of the most important acts towards the justice of African Americans in the US as well as any minority in the nation, outlawed the discrimination of anyone based on their race, sex, religion, or national origin. -
Malcolm X Leads the Nation of Islam
Malcolm X, a outspoken and violent activist who preached the struggles of poor blacks in the US. As a black Muslim, he helped lead the Nation of Islam to help fight for black justice. -
Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X was assassinated by black Muslims at the age of 39 about to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. -
Selma March
Three protest marches along the 54-mile highway from Montgomery to Selma led by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to help register voters in the South -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act, signed by President Johnson, outlawed any and all discriminatory voting practices that prevented black citizens from voting in elections. -
Black Panthers Founded
The Black Panther Party, or the BPP black revolutionist and nationalist party, originally created to patrol neighborhoods and protect black citizens from acts of police brutality. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., a well known activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement, was assassinated on April 4, 1968 by James Earl Ray while standing on the second floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
This Act, also known as the Fair Housing Act of 1968, defined housing discrimination as the refusal to sell a house to anyone based on race, sex, religion, or national origin. -
Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
Democratic presidential candidate and brother of JFK Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated on June 5, 1968 by Sirhan Sirhan shortly after winning the California presidential primaries.
