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Civil Rights Timeline

  • Jackie Robinson enters Major League Baseball

    Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play baseball during the modern era.
  • Executive Order 9981 signed by President Truman

    President Truman established the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, mandating the desegregation of the U.S. military.
  • Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Ruling

    A Supreme court debate that resulted in the conclusion that separating children in schools because of race was unconstitutional.
  • Emmett Till is murdered

    A 14 year old named Emmett Till was murdered for allegedly teasing a white store clerk.
  • Rosa Parks Arrest

    Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man.
  • The Montgomery Bus Boycott

    A boycott by the African American citizens in which they refused to ride the buses and chose different ways to get places. Such as hitch-hiking and other forms of transportation.
  • Little Rock Nine Intervention

    President Eisenhower sent troops to Little Rock to ensure the safety of nine African American students that went to what people wanted to be a all- white school.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1957 is passed

    President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act. Which marked the first occasion that they took a step to solve the Civil Rights issues.
  • Greensboro Sit-In Protest

    An act of nonviolent protest against a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
  • Integration of Ole Miss Riots

    Riots broke out at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, involving locals, students, and segregationists protesting James Meredith's enrollment in an all-white school.
  • The Birmingham Children’s March

    A non-violent protest against discrimination and segregation by many African American kids.
  • George Wallace’s “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door”

    A protest by Alabama Governor George Wallace. Where he physically blocked the entrance to the University of Alabama to prevent two African American students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from registering for classes.
  • Medgar Evers shooting

    Medgar Evers was shot through the heart after he started to look into Emmett Till's murder.
  • March on Washington / I Have a Dream Speech

    A non-violent protest led by Martin Luther King Jr. Where he made his " I Have A Dream" speech. Many whites and blacks gathered to listen to the speech. And it helped motivate the fight for equality.
  • The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

    A bombing caused by members of the KKK. This attack fatally killed four girls.
  • Freedom Summer

    A bunch of college students in Mississippi had the goal of increasing the registration of African American voters.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964 is passed

    This act outlawed segregation in businesses such as schools, theaters, restaurants, and hotels. Or any public place.
  • Malcolm X is murdered

    Malcolm X was shot fatally in the chest, shoulder, arms, and legs in the Harlem Audubon Ballroom in New York . It was discovered during the autopsy that he had 21 gunshot wounds.
  • The Selma Marches / Bloody Sunday

    A big day in the fight for desegregation and equality. This helped lead to the Voting Rights Act of 1965
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965 is passed

    The law allowed states to directly intervene in the electoral process in certain locations, prohibiting the practices of denying voting rights based on race.
  • Black Panther Party is formed

    A party formed for protection to African Americans. It protected black communities from police brutality and discrimination.
  • Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court ruling

    A court ruling where the Supreme Court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
  • Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated

    Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Where was fatally shot on that balcony. He was rushed to the hospital. However, he was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital.