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Brown v. Board of Education
The court case that allowed separate but equal facilities was Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court in 1896. A while later, in Topeka Kansas, a black schoolgirl named Linda Brown was denied entry to her public neighborhood school. When she was told to move to a all black school across town, Linda and her parents sued the school board. When they went to court in Brown v. Ferguson, Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. -
Murder of Lamar Smith
The murder of Lamar Smith took place in Brookhaven, Mississippi. He was a 63 year old war veteran and he was trying to help other blacks to vote. He was shot to death in front of the Brookhaven courthouse by three white men, who were later arrested. -
Emmett Till
Emmett Till was a 14-year-old black boy who was visiting his relatives in Money, Mississippi. When he was in a grocery store, he was apparently "flirting" with the cashier and two white men kidnapped him, beat him, and shot him. His mother held a open casket funeral and it galvanized the Civil Rights Movement. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was a black women who was sitting on a segregated bus in a white seat. When she was asked to leave she said no, so she got arrested. The result of her standing up was a generation of blacks boycotting buses and fighting for what they believe in. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was passed by Eisenhower. It intended to protect the right of African Americans to vote. -
Little Rock, Arkansas
In Little Rock, Arkansas, the school board won a court order to be able to admit nine African American students to Central High, a high school with 2,000 white students. Since the governor had to win back votes, he had to defend white supremacy, so he sent the Arkansas National Guard to not let the 9 black students into the school. An angry white mob joined the troops to protest against the integration. The government ended up sending the 101st Airborne division. The mob was broke up. -
Mack Charles Parker
Mack was accused of the kidnap of a white women in Poplarville, Mississippi and was put in jail. When he was in jail he was abducted, beaten, than lynched by a white mob. -
Attack of the Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders were blacks and whites alike who sat in segregated buses in the opposite race seat and intended to desegregate the bus terminals. An organization that helped organize the Freedom Riders was CORE. Whites also helped blacks with this campaign. -
James Meredith enrollment at Ole Miss
When James Meredith tried to enroll at Ole Miss, the governor of Mississippi blocked his path and wouldn't let him admit. President Kennedy got angry and sent 500 federal marshals to escort Meredith to the campus. Once this happened, a full scale riot broke out throughout the night. By morning, 160 Marshals have been wounded so Kennedy sent several thousand army troops to secure the college. -
Medgar Evers Assassinated
Medgar Evers was a African American civil rights activist who organized voter-registration efforts and led boycotts against companies who practiced discrimination. Because of his high position in the NAACP, he was a target for assassination. In the summer, 1963 on June 12th he was shot and killed in the driveway of his home in Jackson. -
The March on Washington
The purpose of the March on Washington was to pressure the congress in passing the civil rights bill. When everyone met up in Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous and inspiring speech, "I have a dream," -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It stated that the federal government has the power to prevent racial discrimination in a number of areas. The law made segregation illegal in most places of public accommodation, and gave all citizens equal access to places like parks, factories, and restaurants. -
March to Selma
The March to Selma was organized by the SCLC and Dr. King to keep pressure on the President and congress. During the march, dozens of armed white citizens terrorized them and 200 state troopers beat them. This march got the President to get in front of the TV camera to propose a new voting rights law. -
Viola Liuzzo
Viola was a Civil Rights Activist white woman who was transporting a black man from Montgomery to Alabama when she was murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan. She was the only know white female killed during the Civil Rights Movement. -
Oneal Moore
Oneal Moore was a black sheriff in Louisiana when he was shot and killed while he and his partner were on patrol duty. Oneal was Washington's Parish first black deputy and he was murdered bu the Ku Klux Klan. -
Thurgood Marshall
Before becoming the first black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall attended a law school in Washington, D.C. It was a monumental event because it was a black person doing a "white" job. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
On the evening of April 4th, 1968, Dr. King was in Memphis because he was supporting strikes their. He was standing in the balcony of his hotel when he got shot by a sniper. His death made such a big impact on whites and blacks because one of the main civil rights leader was gone, and a lot of people didn't know who was going to lead them. People were scared.
