Civil Rights Timeline

  • Plessy v Ferguson

    Plessy v Ferguson

    Supreme Court case which legalized Racism
  • Brown v Board of Education

    Brown v Board of Education

    US Supreme Court rules it is unconstitutional to segregate schools
  • Emmett Till

    Emmett Till

    The notorious case of Emmett Till. The teen traveled down to the south and accepted a dare from his friends to catcall a white woman in a store which eventually led to him being beaten to death by white supremacists. His killers were acquitted for the crime
  • Rosa Parks

    Rosa Parks

    On December 1st 1955, Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus for a white man. This started the Montgomery Bus Boycott and was a trigger for the Civil Rights Movement.
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    Montgomery Bus Boycott

    African Americans refuse to ride buses as protest
  • Little Rock Integration

    Little Rock Integration

    The Little Rock Nine were a group of Black High School students advocating for integration in schools
  • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr./ Ghandi/ Thoreau/ Randolph

    Dr. Martin Luther King Jr./ Ghandi/ Thoreau/ Randolph

    These activists are strong influences for future activists and activists then. They all believed in equality and liberation for everyone. Each Activist believed nonviolent protests were the answer.
  • The SIt-Ins

    The SIt-Ins

    Non-violent protest where African Americans would sit at a whites only restaurant or diner, etc...
  • Freedom Rides

    Freedom Rides

    African Americans rode buses into the south to protest segregation of public buses which eventually lead to laws making it unconstitutional to segregate buses
  • March on Birmingham, Alabama

    March on Birmingham, Alabama

    Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference led marches in Birmingham, Alabama to fight for integration of African Americans within society
  • March on Washington

    March on Washington

    Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lead a march to Washington D.C. where they protested segregation and advocated for equal rights to all people
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

    Civil Rights Act of 1964

    Act which resolved segregation in the work place and discrimination against employment
  • 24th Amendment

    24th Amendment

    The 24th Amendment outlawed the poll tax and other unequal voting practices
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965

    Voting Rights Act of 1965

    Lyndon B. Johnson signed law that outlawed literacy tests and other discriminatory voting policies
  • March from Selma to Montgomery for Voting Rights

    March from Selma to Montgomery for Voting Rights

    Along the 54 mile highway, protesters marched from Selma to Montgomery in advocation for equal rights
  • De Jure v De Facto Segregation

    De Jure v De Facto Segregation

    De Jure Segregation: Separation of certain racial groups based on law.
    De Facto Segregation: Separation of a racial group not by law (i.e. predominantly black neighborhood makes predominantly black school)
  • Malcolm X

    Malcolm X

    Malcolm X was an activist in the 1960s who practiced defending yourself "by any means necessary" an activist who believed violence was the answer opposed to MLKs nonviolent practices. Assassinated February 21, 1965
  • Thurgood Marshall

    Thurgood Marshall

    First African American Supreme Court Justice appointed. Served 1967-1991
  • Race Riots

    Race Riots

    The Race Riots in the 1960s were a protest to unequal rights and police violence