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Supreme Court makes a decision on segregation in schools
In Brown vs. Board of Education, the Supreme Court declares segregated schools unconstitutional -
Murder of Emmett Till
Documentary on the murder of Emmett TillEmmett Till is murdered. In September of the same year, during a trial for his murder, the accused killers (Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam) are found innocent. In 1956, the two men admit to killing Till in a magazine article. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Montgomery Bus Boycott clipRosa Parks refused to give up her seat and is arrested, Montgomery Bus Boycott starts a few days later. -
End of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Supreme Court finds bus desegregation unconstitutional. Buses are desegregated in Montgomery on December 21st, 1956. -
Little Rock Nine
Little Rock Nine ClipThe governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, blocks the desegregation of Little Rock High School. President Eisenhower is forced to send army troops to the school so the nine African American students (became known as the Little Rock Nine) could safely enter the school. -
Student Sit-in Movement and SNCC
Students at North Carolina A&T start a sit-in at a local lunch counter. As sit-in protests start to spread to different colleges, students formed SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee). -
Freedom Rides
Freedom Riders ClipJames Farner, leader of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), organizes the first Freedom Riders to test the Supreme Court rulings for the desegregation of interstate bus travel. African American and white students take part in these Freedom Rides and are met with a lot of violence everywhere they stop (the worst of it in Birmingham, Alabama). By September 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission issues regulations prohibiting segregation at interstate bus terminals -
Protests in Birmingham
Violence against protesters in Birminghamev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads protests in Birmingham, Alabama. The protestors are brutally assaulted by police officers. 1000s of people are arrested, including Rev. Dr. King Jr. -
March on Washington
Complete "I Have a Dream Speech200,000 protestors go to Washington, D.C. to show support of a new civil rights act. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech -
Passing of the Civil Rights Act
President Lyndon Baines Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, declaring discrimination based on race, color, religion, and sex illegal. It outlawed the segregation of public accommodations.
