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Shaker Heights Protective Association
The SHPA was an alliance of Shaker neighbors whose purpose was to protect their all-white neighborhoods from the presence of "undesirable neighbors" or racial minorities. This association went along with a theme of segregation and discrimination that was common during the time period. -
Murray v Maryland
Donald Gaines Murray applied to the University of Maryland School of Law but was rejected because Maryland did not admit blacks. The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Murray and ordered the law school to admit him. However, the court also ruled that Murray must be separated from white students. -
Shelley v Kraemer
The Shelleys, a black family, moved into a St. Louis neighborhood that had previously set up a covenant to keep out racial minorities. The members of the covenant sued. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled against the Shelleys, who then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that racial covenants could not be held on real estate. -
McLaurin v Oklahoma State Regents
George McLaurin, an African-American, was admitted to the University of Oklahoma's doctoral program. However, he was forced to sit apart from the rest of the class and eat lunch at a separate time. McLaurin hired Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP, and his case eventually made it to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of McLaurin, stating the his treatment was a violation of the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Brown v Board of Education
Thurgood Marshall argued that separate schools for whites and blacks were inherently unequal, violating the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment. Supreme Court ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitutional. -
Murder of Emmett Till
14-year-old African-American Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi. While he was in a grocery store, he allegedly flirted with a white woman. Three days later, August 28, two white men, the woman's husband and his half-brother, dragged Till from his great uncle's house in the middle of the night. He was beaten, shot to death, and thrown into the Tallahatchie River. The two men confessed to the kidnapping, but an all-white jury acquitted them of murder charges. -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
Four days before the boycott began, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus. As a result, she was arrested and fined. In the Montgomery Bus Boycott, African-Americans refused to ride city buses, marking the first large-scale demonstration against segregation in the country. Eventually, the Supreme Court ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system. -
Bombing in Ludlow
A house being built for an African-American family in the Ludlow neighborhood was bombed. However, this event had a somewhat positive effect. The tragedy brought together people of different races and led to them working together for a common goal. -
Integration of Central High School
Nine black students enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. On September 4, 1957, the first day of classes, the governor of Arkansas ordered the state National Guard to bar the black students' entry into the school. President Eisenhower later sent federal troops to escort the "Little Rock Nine" into the school and they started their first day of classes on September 25. -
Ludlow Community Association
The Ludlow Community Association (LCA) was formed.
