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Montgomery Bus Boycott
Montgomery Bus Boycott In the city of Montgomery, Alabama, the public buses were considered segregated. In that year, a secretary of the NAACP named Rosa Parks, rode a Montgomery bus. She was ordered to give up her seat and make the row available for the whites. She refused and got arrested. The NAACP called for a boycott of the city bus system and decided to protest agaisnt segregation in public transportation. The boycott lasted for a year and the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on buses was unconstitutional. -
Little Rock
The Supreme Court held that segregation in schools were unconstitutional. The city of Little Rock, Arkansas did not integrate its schools. Nine African American students enrolled in Central High School at Little Rock. They were harassed by the white students when they first came to school. President Eisenhower sent out troops to protect the nine students and made sure they were safe. -
Sit- Ins
In the city of Nashville, Tennessee, lunch rooms were segregated. On February 1, 1960, four African American college students started to sit-in. Different groups of people joined the sit-ins to protest non-violently agaisnt segregation. Some of them attended James Lawson's workshops and were trained on how to react around the crowd of people during their sit-ins. The people who participated were usually arrested and sent to jail. In May, segregation in lunch counters ended. -
Martin Luther King Jr. letter from Birmingham Jail
The letter from Birmingham Jail Birmingham, Alabama was known for its strict enforcement of segregation. King raised funds to campaign against Birmningham's segregation laws. King led marches and sit-ins which began in April 1963. King and all other protesters got arrested and were sent to jail. King's fines were paid and he was released. He then wrote a letter to reject all the charges given to him in a news article saying that his actions were untimely and unwise. -
"Bull" Connor
Eugene "Bull" Connor is the Birmingham police chief in Alabama. He used police and fire fighters to break up a group of African American students as they gathered to march. He used a fire hose and blasted all the children with water and used police dogs to stop the marchers. His actions were televised and were also recorded. -
March on Washington
March on Washington Civil Rights leaders gathered and organized a march on Washington Monument to Lincoln Memorial. One of the goals of the march was a demand for the passage of the civil rights act. Over 200,000 people of all races showed up. In this rally, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous speech known as the "I Have a Dream" speech. -
Freedom Summer
The Freedom Summer was created by the SNCC. It was the time when college students spent their summer vacation in Mississippi, registering African Americans to vote. The students who volunteered were mainly white, norhtern, and upper middle class. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil Rights Act President Lyndon Johnson supported President Kennedy's Civil Rights Act. Although some of the southerners in COngress fought to end it, Johnson signed it into law on July 2, 1964. The CIvil Rights Act banned discrimination in employment and in public accomodations. -
Selma
The struggle for voting rights continued in Selma, Alabama. All the Civil Rights leaders gathered in Selma to start their protest. They organized a march from Selma to Montgomery on March 7, 1965. The marchers were blocked by the police and fires tear gas at them. The violence in Selma was televised in the TV networks. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Voting Rights Act In most states, balcks outnumbered the whites. These blacks were not able to vote. They protested and fought hard to achieve their voting rights. On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. It banned literacy tests and other practices that discouraged blacks from voting.
