Martinlutherkingjr

MTHS Civil Rights Timeline Cuthbertson B - A Decade of Civil Rights

By billcuthbertson

  • Brown v. Board of Education

    Brown v. Board of Education
    Brown v. Board of EducationThe Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote, "...(education) is a right that must be made available to all on equal terms"

  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    Montgomery Bus Boycott
    Montgomery Bus BoycottAn African American woman, Rosa Parks, who worked for the Montgomery, Alabama NAACP, was asked to give up her seat on a bus to a white man.

    When she refused the bus driver called the police and she was arrested.
    The NAACP decided to use this event to protest segregation on public transportation.
    Martin Luther King Jr. let the buy boycott that lasted over one year before the Montgomery public transportation department changed its policy of segregation on public busses.

  • Little Rock Nine

    Little Rock Nine
    Little Rock Nine In Little Rock, Arkansas, nine African American students attempted to be the first Black students to attend Central High School. Governor Orval Fabus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to stop them from entering the school. President Eisenhower demanded that the 9 students be allowed into the school and sent in Federal troops to protect the students.

  • Greensboro Four Sit-in

    Greensboro Four Sit-in
    Greensboro FourFour African American college students in Greensboro, North Carolina entered a Woolworth store food counter and ordered coffee. They were refused service and asked to leave.
    They refused to leave and stayed until the store closed.
    The next day they came back. This time there were more than 20 African American students. By the fourth day they had grown to over 300. This was only the beginning of the sit-in movement in the South.

  • Segregation Today, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever

    Segregation Today, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever
    Segregation Today, Tomorrow, and ForeverIn 1962 George Wallace ran for Governor of Alabama on a segregation platform. Wallace won the election and when he gave his inaugural speech he proclaimed, "...Segregation Today, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever..."

  • Bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church

    Bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church
    Bombing of 16th street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama: In Birmingham, Alabama, members of the KKK set off a bomb at the 16th Street Baptist Church which killed girls were killed and 22 others wounded. It wasn't until 1977 that one of the bombers was arrested and convicted. In 2001 another bomber was arrested and convicted, and in 2002 the final bomber was arrested and given a sentence of life in prison.

  • Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

    Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
    Martin Luther King Jr. was in Memphis, Tennessee to support protests against unequal wages for Blacks.
    As he stepped out of his hotel room he was struck and killed by a single bullet fired by James Earl Ray.