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Plessy v. Ferguson
The case stemmed from an incident which Homer Plessy an African-American train passenger refused to sit in a Jim Crow car, breaking a Louisiana law. Plessy argued that his constitutional rights were violated, but the Court ruled that a state law that “implies merely a legal distinction” between whites and blacks did not conflict with the 13th and 14th amendments. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
In the summer of 1950, parents took their children to school to enroll for the upcoming school year, but all were denied admission. The children were forced to attend one of four schools for African Americans. The parents filed a suit against the Topeka Board of Education on behalf of their children. The case was filed in February 1951; the court placed in the records its acceptance of the psychological evidence that African American children were adversely affected by segregation. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama to protest segregated seating. Four days before the boycott began, Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, refused to give up her seat for a white man on a Montgomery bus. She was arrested and fined, and the boycott of public buses by blacks in Montgomery began on the day Parks’ court hearing. One of the leaders of the boycott,Martin Luther King Jr., emerged as a prominent national leader of the American civil rights movement. -
Sit ins, Atlanta Georgia
Students at six historical Atlanta black colleges organized a series of sit ins at area lunch counters to protest the city's legally sanctioned segregation. -
New Orleans School Integration
Two years after the Brown V. the Board trial, New Orleans schools were ordered to desegregate school systems. It didn’t take place till 1960. -
Albany Movement
Residents of Albany, Georgia, launched an ambitious campaign to eliminate segregation in all facets of local life. -
University of Georgia Integration
Federal district court Judge W. A. Bootle ordered the immediate admission of Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter to the University of Georgia, ending 160 years of segregation at the school. -
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
An estimated 250,000 people attended the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. The event focused on employment discrimination, civil rights abuses against African Americans, Latinos, and other disenfranchised groups, and support for the Civil Rights Act. -
16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
Before 11 o’clock on September 15, 1963 a bomb exploded under the church steps. Birmingham became known as “Bombingham” due to the many bombs that had been dropped before. Many white were just as outraged by the incident as blacks and offered services and condolences to the families. During the bombing, four girls were killed which drew the attention of many about the violent struggle of civil rights in Birmingham. -
JFK Assassination
Kennedy's assassination threatened to slow the growing momentum of the Civil Rights movement.
