Civil Rights Timeline

  • Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, KS

    Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, KS
    case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the civil rights movement.
  • Emmitt Till

    Emmitt Till
    Emmitt Till was brutally murdered at the age of 14 when he did the "wolf whistle" to a girl and then two guys in the south severely beat him to death and his body was later found. Mother insisted on an open casket to show every single person what these two men had done to her boy.
  • Montgomery, AL bus boycott

    Montgomery, AL bus boycott
    This was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. Started on December 1st, 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to move out of her seat in the front of the bus and was arressted.
  • Rosa Parks

    Rosa Parks
    Became famous when she refused to get out of the front of the bus and was arressted by the cops and taken to jail. Her decision impacted the Civil Rights movement tremendously because the Boycott on busses started. "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement".
  • SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)

    SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)
    Was an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The SCLC had a large role in the American Civil Rights Movement.
  • Little Rock Nine

    Little Rock Nine
    The Little Rock Nine were a group of African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. By doing this, the idea of segregation was challenged heavily in the US and a major crisis came about.
  • Great Society (PROGRESSIVISM)

    Great Society (PROGRESSIVISM)
    Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the Proposed by LBJ in support of the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. New major spending programs that addressed education, medical care, urban problems, and transportation were launched during this period. The Great Society in scope and sweep resembled the New Deal domestic agenda of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  • SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)

    SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)
    SNCC was founded in April 1960, by young people who had emerged as leaders of the sit-in protest movement initiated on February 1. SNCC pushed for non segregated lunch counters. As the organization expanded it became known for there work done in pushing blacks to vote. and later known for the freedom rides and civil rights in general.
  • freedom riders

    freedom riders
    Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 and following years to challenge the bus dilemma that was faced in the south. The Freedom Rides established great credibility with blacks and whites throughout the United States who became motivated to engage in direct action for civil rights.
  • James Meredith

    James Meredith
    He was the first African American student admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi, an event that was a flashpoint in the American civil rights movement. His goal was to put pressure on the Kennedy administration to enforce civil rights for African Americans.
  • March on Washington

    March on Washington
    Was one of the largest political rallies for human rights in United States history and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. This is where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I have a dream speech". The march is widely credited with helping to pass the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965)
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

    Civil Rights Act of 1964
    This outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities, and also women. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public (known as "public accommodations").
  • Malcolm X

    Malcolm X
    In the beginning, Malcom X wanted separate communities for African Americans, where he could have positions of power, like with schools and businesses. He hated white people and wanted nothing to do with them. Then he went to Mecca, the holy city of Islam, and realized that integration WAS possible. Soon after that, he was assassinated.
  • Selma, Alabama

    Selma, Alabama
    The city is best known for the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement and its Selma to Montgomery marches, three civil rights marches that began in the city. The marches were for the purpose of the constitutional right to vote and significantly advanced this nation closer toward its goal of "justice for all."
  • Kerner Commision

    Kerner Commision
    was an 11-member commission established by President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the causes of the 1967 race riots in the United States and to provide recommendations for the future. Primary goal must be a single society.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1968

    Civil Rights Act of 1968
    provided for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed, or national origin. The Act was signed into law during the King assassination riots by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had previously signed the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act into law.