-
The events of this time period help put the civil rights movement on a national level. The idea of integration and an equal right to vote for African Americans starts to gain more and more support through non-violent protests lead by civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr.
-
Heman Sweatt applied to the University of Texas law school. He was qualified in every way to go to law school, but the University of Texas law school was an all-white school, so he was denied admission. After being sued at the state level, The University of Texas made an entirely new law school, the School of Law of the Texas State University to keep segregation in place. Sweatt then sued in the supreme court, leading to the admission of black students in formerly all white schools. -
Sarah Keys Evans was part of the Women's Army Corps riding a Bus from Fort Dix. She sat in the middle of the bus because the back was noisy, bumpy, and smelly. At their halfway stop, the bus company switched drivers and the new one asked Keys to move. When she didn't he called the police and had her arrested. Her case helped lead to the desegregation of buses. -
Till was accused of flirting with a white woman, so her husband and brother went out and found him. They beat him, tore his eyes out, and then shot him. His body wasn't found until days later because he was thrown into a river. His family had an open casket to help spread awareness about how terrible the jim crow laws were. When it went to trial the court found the murderers not guilty because the state couldn't accurately identify the body. -
The MIA was the first all-black association outside of the NAACP, they worked to desegregate the busses in Montgomery, Alabama. It made sure the boycott was followed and made carpools for African Americans without transportation. E.D Nixon and Jo Ann Robinson, the leaders of MIA, thought that Martin Luther King Jr. would be the best at leading their association. -
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was the first widespread protest against segregation. African Americans boycotted the busses, carpooling instead through the MIA. This eventually led to the Supreme Court ordering Alabama to desegregate the buses. -
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was held first held in Atlanta, Ga. It was comprised of 60 civil rights activists, many of whom were black ministers like Martin Luther King Jr. They discussed peaceful protests against segregation, and continuing the bus boycott. -
In Little Rock, Arkansas, nine black students were admitted into a formerly white school. The governor of Arkansas blocked the students from entering the school, using their national guard. President Eisenhower sent down federal troops to assure the black student's safety and protect them from the white parents that surrounded the school. This brought segregation to the national level, as one of the first tests of integrating schools. -
Passed by President Eisenhower, it was the first civil rights bill passed in the US since Reconstruction. It allowed the federal government to take legal action against anyone who denied or restricted anyone else from voting. -
Arkansas openly defied and was against racial integration and the decision of Brown v Board of Education. Arkansas went to the court and asked for integration to stop and that the African American children be put back into segregated schools. The US supreme court ruled that the president set by Brown V Board overruled any state law that prevented integration. -
The 1960s was a time period that was full of civil rights achievements and protests, but during this time the movement lost multiple leaders to white violence, and assassins, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Merideth were all killed in the '60s.
-
The Greensboro sit-ins started in February of 1960 and moved through college towns in the south. Black students would sit at a segregated lunch counter and refuse to leave. They were peaceful protests but they were often arrested for trespassing or disturbing the peace. These sit-ins helped spread the civil rights movement around the south. -
The first freedom rides started on May 4th, 1961. Thirteen people, seven black, and 6 white, road from Washington DC down to the deep south. Their goal was to see how the de-segregation of bus and rail systems was being upheld in the South. When they got to Alabama they were met by an angry mob that burned one of their busses and attacked them. The leaders of the freedom rides didn't let this stop them, they sent freedom rides all the way to Mississippi. -
The SNCC and the NAACP started a movement in Albany, GA that was designed to create mass protests and gatherings that helped spread the idea of integration and bring the issue of segregation to the national level. -
James Merideth was an african american Air Force vet that was trying to apply and get into Ole Miss. After being denied because of his race he sued and eventually a US court ordered Ole Miss to admit Merideth into the all-white school. More than 100 federal marshals were sent to keep James safe and keep the peace. The night James got there there was a riot where 2 civilians died. James eventually became the first black graduate from Ole Miss in 1963. -
In Birmingham, Alabama, thousands of children started marching in the streets to protest segregation. On the first day, black children were arrested in busloads and put in the Birmingham jail. On the second day, the commissioner authorized the use of force to break up the protest. Children were sprayed with water hoses, clubbed, and attacked by dogs. -
Medgar Evers was a US army vet and civil rights leader that worked closely with the NAACP. He was assassinated by a white supremacist in his driveway on June 12th, 1963. -
On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led a 250,000 people march in Washington, DC. They gathered near the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. -
More than 700 volunteers, who were mostly white, went to Mississippi to help African Americans register to vote. It was put together by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. The movement was met with violence and abuse from the KKK and the local and state police. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned segregation in public places and made it illegal to not hire someone because of their race, sex, or country of origin. First drafted by President Kennedy, it was signed into effect by LBJ in July of 1964. -
The Heart of Atlanta Motel would not let African Americans stay at their hotel and the US supreme court ruled that under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the commerce clause, the hotel could not discriminate against blacks. -
In February of 1965, Malcolm X was shot while giving a speech at the Audubon Ballroom. Three people from the Nation of Islam were accused and jailed for killing Malcolm X in front of his wife and children. One of them was later exonerated in 2021. -
Around 600 civil rights activists, including Martin Luther King Jr., marched 54 miles for three days straight from Selma to Montgomery. They faced violence and deadly force from local law enforcement and white supremacists. This march eventually helped lead to the making of the voting rights act of 1965. -
This act reinforced African Americans' right to vote under the protection of the 15th Amendment. It banned literacy tests and made it so federal officials oversaw voter registration. -
James Meredith was a civil rights activist and a graduate of Ole Miss. He started a solitary march from Tennessee to Mississippi, and soon after was shot and killed by a white gunman. After the shooting black activists finished the walk in his honor, and a group of black WWII veterans known as the Deacons of Defence and Justice protected them along the way from the KKK. -
In April of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by a sniper in Memphis, Tennessee. His death sped up the housing bill in the senate that Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC had been advocating for but also made African Americans support the more radical movements of the Black Panther party. -
The fair housing act of 1968 made it illegal to discriminate while selling or renting houses to people. It was later amended so that you could not be discriminated against based on your race, sex, or disability. -
The '70s was entering a post-civil rights movement era.
Black people were starting to move up in politics and business, and multiple laws and legislation were passed to finish out the movement. -
This case set the president for the integration of bus routes for schools and strengthened the admission of black kids into integrated schools. -
Shirley Chisolm was the first black woman elected into Congress. She announced her campaign in Brooklyn, NY. She wanted the president who was elected to be the one that African Americans and other minorities wanted, she encouraged more African Americans and women to vote. She used her candidacy to promote equality for African Americans, especially black women. -
Hank Aaron was the last African American to play on both the negro leagues and the major leagues. He broke Babe Ruth's record of 714 and went on to end his career with 755 home runs. He became the first African American to manage a team in the Major League and in 1982 was inducted into the hall of fame. -
Barbara Jordan was the first african american woman ever to make an address at the Democratic Party convention. She promoted unity and said that the nation should regain its belief that change can happen. -
Bakke was a white man who applied for medical school in California twice and was rejected both times, even though his test scores were higher than most. He wasn't allowed in because the school had a racial quota and Bakke couldn't take one of the minorities spots. The Supreme Court ruled that the racial quotas in the admission process violated the Equal Protection Clause and parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.