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Brown V. Board of Education
In the Brown V. Board of Education court case, it was ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. This gave fuel to the Civil Rights Movement and led up to many other acts such as Rosa Parks giving up her seat and the Montgomery bus boycott. -
White Citizens Council
Out of anger caused by the decision of the Brown v. Board of Education case, a group of white segregationists in the South created the White Citizens Council in an attempt to oppress African Americans. They used violence to attack the goals of the civil rights movement, and eventually, MLK asked that President Eisenhower investigated the violence of the members within the group. -
Brown V. Board of Education II
In the previous court case, it was decided that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. However, many schools did not follow this ruling. In Brown v. Board II the court ordered them to integrate their schools "with all deliberate speed." -
The Lynching of Emmett Till
Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American from Chicago who was visiting his family in Mississippi. He was murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman. That woman's husband and brother then tortured Emmett by beating him, and then shooting him in the head and throwing his body tied to a cotton-gin into a river. His mom demanded an open-casket funeral so the world could see what was done to her son. -
Rosa Parks Arrested
Rosa Parks was a civil rights activist who was arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus in Montgomery to a white man. This nonviolent action led to a bus boycott that eventually led to buses being desegregated. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott took place from December 5th, 1955 to December 20th, 1956. 4 day before the event took place, Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white man. The boycott was a civil rights protest in which African Americans if not ride city buses in Montgomery to protest the fact that there was segregated seating. -
Martin Luther King House Bombing
This bombing was a test to see how committed King was to non-violence. No one was injured during the event, but when news got out of the bombing, people gathered outside his home and King preached non-violence by saying "I want you to love our enemies." This proved that no matter what, King was devoted to a non-violent Civil Rights Movement. -
Bombing of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth
Fred Shuttlesworth was a civil rights activist whose house was bombed by the KKK. He was home during the bombing along with his family and some members of his church. No one inside the home was injured thankfully, but this was not the only time white supremacists attempted to murder him. -
SCLC Founded
The purpose of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was to coordinate the action of protest groups in the South. They organized boycotts like the Montgomery bus boycott, and they promoted nonviolent resistance. Some key individuals of the organization were MLK, Andrew Young, and Bayard Rustin -
Eisenhower Sends in Federal Troops
When 9 African American students were prevented from entering Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, Eisenhower decided to take action. He went live on broadcast and stated that there would be Federal Troops in Little Rock to make sure the students were able to enter the school. -
SNCC Formed
The SCNN was formed to achieve equality among everyone no matter their race. Julian Bond was one of the founders and for years he led student protests. The committee also helped organize freedom rides and the march on Washington. -
Greensboro Sit Ins
The Greensboro sit-in was planned by a group of four African American students. They sat in at a segregated lunch counter where they were denied service, and they refused to give up their seats. The police came but couldn't do anything about it, and the four of them remained in their seats until the store closed. They then returned the next day with many more students. This encouraged many others to participate in sit-ins, and by the end of March, the movement spread to 55 different cities. -
Freedom Rides
The Freedom Rides were bus trips through the South organized by Freedom Riders to protest segregated bus terminals. This rose a lot of violence along the routes, but it brought attention to the movement nationally. -
White Mob Attacks Federal Marshals in Montgomery
During the Freedom Ride protests, many white mobs violently attacked the attendees of these protests while federal marshals protected the church from being attacked. These white mobs would beat the Freedom Riders and were firebombing churches. Because of the lack in enforcement to restore order in Alabama, Kennedy threatened to send federal troops in to protect their people. -
Albany Georgia "failure"
The Albany Movement's goal was to ultimately desegregate the entire community by using nonviolent sit-ins, boycotts, and litigation. It was said to be a failure because it was quite unsuccessful at desegregating public areas and it resulted in many of the demonstrators being arrested. -
Bailey V. Patterson
This court case had to do with an African American group living in Jackson, Mississippi. They brought attention to the fact that there was segregation in "interstate and intrastate transportation." The case went directly to the Supreme Court, and they decided that no state can enforce segregation of interstate or intrastate transportation. -
MLK goes to a Birmingham Jail
During a protest in Birmingham, Alabama, MLK was arrested and sent to jail. The court said that King could not organize protests in Birmingham anymore, and at the time everything was segregated there. -
Kennedy Sends in Federal Troops
JFK sent federal troops into Birmingham to control the number of riots going on at the time. The governor of Alabama was doing very little to protect the citizens, so Kennedy took action to protect them and enforced that the state government also protects its citizens. -
Equal Pay Act
The Equal Pay Act was passed to prohibit wage differences based on gender. It was signed by President Kennedy as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act. -
Assassination of Medgar Evers
Medgar Evers was a civil rights leader who was shot outside of his home by a white supremacist leader. During WWII he participated in the Normandy Invasion, and he also was part of the NAACP. He prompted many poor African Americans to register for voting and encouraged them to join the civil rights movement. In the first trial, Byron De La Beckwith, his killer, was set free. But, 30 years later the case was reopened, and he was sentenced to life in prison. -
March on Washington "I have a Dream"
The March on Washinton was a nonviolent protest where about 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial. At this protest, MLK gave his "I have a Dream" speech. This speech touched many people and became the most famous speech given that day. It caused the crowd to be enthusiastic and brought attention to the movement as a whole. -
Bombing of a Church in Birmingham
During a Sunday morning service at the 16th Street Baptist Chuch in Birmingham, a bomb exploded killing 4 young girls and injuring many others. After the bombing, many people gathered at the church to protest. Governor Wallace sent police to break it up and violence broke out. Ultimately, the outrage of the citizens helped the civil rights movement progress by gaining more support to fight against segregation. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
When JFK, along with his wife, and the Governor of Texas, along with his wife were driving through downtown Dallas in an open-top convertible Lee Harvey Oswald shot the president 3 times. He was pronounced dead 30 minutes later. Lyndon Johnson, vice president, was then named the 36th president and he declared that November 25th would be a national day of mourning. On that day, hundreds of thousands of people gathered honoring and mourning the 35th president during his funeral. -
Freedom Summer
Also known as the Mississippi Summer Project, Freedom Summer was an attempt to increase the number of African American voters. The movement was organized by CORE and SNCC. They were fighting against discrimination at the polls and were faced by the violence of the KKK. This movement helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
The 24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment outlawed the poll tax that was required in federal elections. The tax was a representation of Jim Crow laws and it was in place to target black voters. Lyndon Johnson passed the amendment saying that "There can be no one too poor to vote." -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination regarding race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It was signed by Lyndon Johnson and was a crucial part of the Civil Rights Movement. -
Killing of Goodman, Chaney, Schwener
Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney were all civil rights workers. They disappeared on June 21st which led to a massive FBI investigation. They were all working with CORE to organize civil rights efforts. Many KKK members were on the lookout for them, and eventually, they were all shot to death and buried in an earthen dam. -
Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X was an African American Civil Rights Movement leader. He promoted black nationalism after learning the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. He was assassinated by rival Black Muslims while talking about his organization of African American unity in Washington Heights. -
Selma to Montgomery March
The Selma to Montgomery march was a series of protests in Alabama. Protesters marched a 54-mile route from Selma to Montgomery and along the way were met by violence. It brought attention to the hardships of African American voters and helped pass a voting rights act. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in to eliminate voting barriers that were aimed at African Americans. Literacy tests were used to make it difficult for African Americans to get the right to vote. The act banned literacy tests and was hoping to raise African American voter turnout. -
Black Panthers Formed
The Black Panther Party was formed to protect local communities from police brutality and racism. It was formed by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. The party ended up being involved in many shoot-outs and it expressed the ideas of Malcolm X. -
Detroit Riots
The Detroit Riots were extremely violent and destructive. There were 5 days of rioting which resulted in 43 dead, 342 injured, around 1,400 buildings burned, and about 7,000 national guard and US Army troops were called to service. African American residents were angry about racial profiling and police brutality. -
Loving V. Virginia
Loving V. Virginia was a Supreme Court case that challenged laws banning interracial marriage. Richard and Mildred Loving were an interracial couple whose marriage was declared illegal to the Virginia law. In the court case, it was announced that Virginia's interracial marriage law violated the 14th Amendment, and after that, the Lovings were able to return to their town in Virginia and raise their 3 children. -
Minneapolis Riots
Due to racial tensions around the country, there began to be riots around the country. In Minnesota, young African Americans lit up North Minneapolis in flames. They destroyed shops and firebombed businesses. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis Tennessee. The news shocked the nation because he was a key leader of the Civil Rights Movement. He founded the SCLC and had given many speeches during nonviolent protests. As a result of his assassination, there was a great amount of anger among the black Americans and for a period of time, the nation mourned together. He was shot from the balcony of his hotel room and when the news spread there was rioting in more than 100 cities. -
Assassination of Robert "Bobby" Kennedy
Robert Kennedy was shot after winning the California presidential primary. He was shot many times by a young Palestinian man and died the next day. His murderer received the death sentence. In the same year, MLK was assassinated, and there were anti-war movements for the Vietnam war. The assassination of Robert Kennedy was detrimental to many because he was perceived to be the only political leader who could unite people. He was also loved for his devotion to the Civil Rights Movement.
