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The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks, and African American woman, refused to move her seat on the Montgomery Bus,so a white man could sit in the front. She was arrested and fined. They boycott of the public buses by Blacks in Montgumery began on the day of Rosa Park's court hearing. This boycott lasted 381 days.
Fun Fact: Local car insurers stopped insuring cars cars that participated in the boycotts' carpools. -
The Little Rock 9
A group of 9 African American students were prevented entry into Little Rock Central High School. This led to the Little Rock Crisis, in which students were prevented from entering the school due to their racial backgrounds. After seeing this Crisis as an embarrassment, President Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock to protect these students, so they could finish the rest of the school year.
Fun Fact:Ernest Green(student)served as an assistant secretary under President Jimmy Carter. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1957
President Eisenhower signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The Act marked the first occasion since Reconstruction, that the federal government undertook significant legislative action to protect Civil Rights.
Fun Fact: By passing this bill, Eisenhower hoped it would convince African Americans to vote Republican -
The SIt-In Movement
The Sit-In Movement started when four black students from North Carloina A&T College sat down at Woolworth lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, NC. When asking for coffee, they were refused service due to the color of their skin. The students sat there quitely and patiently. This started a movement where people would sit quietly at lunch counters, while the whites tried to provoke fights with them.
Fun Fact: Protesters were pelted with food and ketchup by the whites to get a rise out of them. -
The Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders were Civil Rights activists who rode Interstate buses into the segregated southern US. These bus trips were to protest the segregation in interstate bus terminals. The Whites living in the South would burn buses to end the protest.
Fun Fact: The Freedom Riders would make stops along the way and use white-only facilities. Such as lunch cointers, bathrooms, water fountains, ect. -
James Meredith and the Desegregation of the University of Mississippi
An African American man, James Meredith, tried to enroll into college at the University of Mississippi. Chaos broke out on the campus of Ole Miss due to his enrollment. People were woended, killed, and arrested. The Kennedy Administration called in the National Guardsmen and other federal forces to enforce order.
Fun Fact: Before this incicdent, a small group of black men weer able to get accepted to white colleges in the South. -
Protests in Birmingham
A movement organzied to bring attention to the intergration of African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama. This movement was led by Martin Luther King Jr. , James Bevel, Fred Shuttlesworth, and others. This protest was a nonviolent direct action which led to publicized confrotations between young black men and white civic authorities.
Fun Fact: During the protests, Martin Luther King Jr.'s motel where he ws staying was bombed, but he fortunelty had left earlier. -
The March on Washington
More than 200,000 Americans gathered in Washington D.C. , for a polictical rally for Jobs and Freedom. This protests was organized by Civil Rights leaders and religous groups. The event was designed to shed light on the political and social challenges the African Americans faced throughout the country.
Fun Fact: This March on Washington was planned twice, twenty years apart, to dramatize the rights of a black man. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
A landmark piece of Civil Rights Legislation in the United States that outlawed discrmimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This Act was signed by President Lydon B. Johnson, and prohibited discrimination in public places, provided intergraton in schools, and made employment discrimination illegal.
Fun Fact: This Act was the Law that created modern America. This law is resonsible for our diverse country today. -
The Selma March
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christain Leadership Conference made Selma, Alabama the focus of it's efforts to register black voters in the South. The March consisted of protesters attempting to march from Selma to the state capital of Montgumery. They were met with violent resistence by state and local authorities.
Fun Fact: This march greatly raised awarness for black voters, and led to the Voting Rights Act, that was passed later that year. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from excercising their right to vote under the 15th Ammendment to the Constitution of the United States. It was signed into law by President Lydon B. Johnson.
Fun Fact: This Act was a result of the Selma March. The march caused awaress for black voters and is the reason why people of all colors and races can vote today. -
The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American clergyman and Civil rRghts leader, who was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. He was killed at the age of 39 due to his importance in the Civil Rights Movement,
Fun Fact: He was shot while standing on a balcony outside his second-floor room at the motel.
