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Creation of the NAACP
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was founded on February 12, 1909, in New York City. It was established by a group of diverse individuals, including civil rights activists -
The Scottsboro Boys
The Scottsboro Boys were nine African American teenage boys wrongly accused of rape in 1931. -
Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Barrier
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier, becoming the first African American player to play in the major leagues. This landmark event occurred when he took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Boston Braves. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
n the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
The Murder of Emmitt Till
In August 1955 two Mississippians bludgeon and kill Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black boy, for whistling at a white woman; their acquittal and boasting of the atrocity spur the civil rights cause. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a civil rights protest where African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to ride city buses to protest segregated seating. -
The Little Rock 9
The Little Rock Nine were nine African American high school students who were the first to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 -
Ruby Bridges desegregate elementary school in New Orleans
In 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges became the first Black child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. -
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
The "Letter from Birmingham Jail", also known as the "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" and "The Negro Is Your Brother", is an open letter written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King Jr. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. -
Assassination of Malcolm X
On stage at the Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was gunned down as his pregnant wife and four daughters took cover in the front row. -
Creation of the Black Panthers
he Black Panther Party (BPP), later shortened to the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was founded in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California. Inspired by the Black Power movement and the Lowndes County Freedom Organization's use of the black panther symbol, -
Thurgood Marshall Named Supreme Court Justice
n August 30, 1967, the Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall as the first Black person to serve as a Supreme Court Justice. Marshall was no stranger to the Senate or the Supreme Court at the time. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr was the most prominent civil rights leader in the United States in the 1960s. He was shot by an assassin in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. After the shooting he was taken to a local hospital where he had an unsuccessful resuscitation for a right subclavian artery transection. -
Election of Barack Obama
presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John McCain, the senior senator from Arizona, and Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska.