Civil Rights Time-line

  • Brown vs. Board of Education

    Brown vs. Board of Education

    A young girl in Kansas was denied admission to an all white elementary school. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
  • Emmett Till Murder

    Emmett Till Murder

    A 14-year-old African American boy was lynched and brutally murdered in Drew, Mississippi. The case helped fuel the early Civil Rights Movement.
  • Rosa Parks & the Montgomery Bus Boycott

    Rosa Parks & the Montgomery Bus Boycott

    A woman called Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. She was later arrested. This sparked the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott. These events led to the desegregation of public buses.
  • Little Rock Nine and Integration

    Little Rock Nine and Integration

    Nine African American students who intergrated Central High School in Little Rock. This challenged racial segregation in public schools. Enforcing the Brown v. Board of Education case ruling.
  • Greensboro Woolworth's Sit-ins

    Greensboro Woolworth's Sit-ins

    Four African American college students sat at the segregated counter of the F.W. Woolworth store. It demonstrated the power of peaceful protests. This event later on led to the desegregation of Woolworth's lunch counter and other businesses in the South.
  • Freedom Rides

    Freedom Rides

    This event involved Civil Rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated South.
  • MLK's Letter From Birmingham Jail

    MLK's Letter From Birmingham Jail

    This was a letter of passionate defense of nonviolent disobedience. This was to justify the peaceful protests.
  • March on washington

    March on washington

    Over 250,000 people gathered in Washington D.C. to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. This brought national attention to the struggle for racial and economic justice.
  • Birmingham Baptist Church Bombing

    Birmingham Baptist Church Bombing

    The Baptist Church was bombed by Ku Klux Klan members. It killed 4 young girls and injuring 22 people.
  • The 24th Amendment

    The 24th Amendment

    This amendment forbade/abolished the poll tax and literacy tests. This allowed African Americans to vote.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

    Civil Rights Act of 1964

    This outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It ended segregation in public places and discrimination.
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965

    Voting Rights Act of 1965

    The act outlawed discriminatory practices like literacy tests and poll taxes and provided federal oversight for voter registration in areas with a history of discrimination.
  • “Bloody Sunday”/Selma to Montgomery March

    “Bloody Sunday”/Selma to Montgomery March

    State troopers and local police brutally attacked the non-violent protesters with clubs and tear gas, injuring many, which was broadcast nationwide and drew national attention to the Civil Rights Movement
  • Loving v. Virginia

    Loving v. Virginia

    The case involved Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial couple who were arrested and convicted in Virginia for violating the state's anti-miscegenation laws after marrying in Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that these laws violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses. It was later declared that state laws banning interracial marriage were unconstitutional.