Timeline of Civil Rights U.S. History Project

  • Executive Order 9981

    Executive Order 9981
    Harry S. Truman ordered to desegregate the military for the honor of the Tuskegee Airmen. This is the second government act that acted on Civil Rights.
  • Brown v. Board of Education

    Brown v. Board of Education
    The court case of this trial concluded that we should desegregate public schools, a big achievement that was done in the civil Rights Movement.
  • Death of Emmett Till

    Death of Emmett Till
    14-year old Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi, his mother held an open-casket funeral for him and as a protest. One of his mom’s friends recalls, “And I just remember looking down, and an awful scene…”
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    Montgomery Bus Boycott
    After Rosa Parks got arrested for sitting at a white seat, SDCC issued a boycott form riding buses at Montgomery, Alabama. The protests lasted until November 14 were Supreme Court desegregated buses.
  • Little Rock Nine

    Little Rock Nine
    Nine students in Little Rock, Alabama, integrated an all white collage. Students and parents harassed them to the point of federal troops coming in to step up
  • Civil Rights Act of 1957

    Civil Rights Act of 1957
    President Dwight D. Eisenhower passed this bill to send federal prosecution to anyone who doesn’t let another person to vote.
  • Greensboro Sit-ins

    Greensboro Sit-ins
    In February 1, 1960 four students went and sat at an all-white table, asking to be served. The servers retaliated and others try to beaten, while they stood with no emotion. This prompted other similar protests, whist leading to the lunch counter being desegregated.
  • Birmingham Campaign

    Birmingham Campaign
    The Southern Christian Leadership Conference led a series of sit-ins and marches in Birmingham to protest on African American rights. Even though MLK got arrested, and dogs and fire hoses were used to stop, the protests still continued.
  • MLK arrested

    MLK arrested
    In the middle of the Birmingham campaign, Martin Luther King Jr. got arrested with many other protesters.
  • Letter from Birmingham Jail

    Letter from Birmingham Jail
    Martin Luther King Jr. releases a long letter towards segregators who oppressed in. This was later used commonly as a classic defense to civil disobedience.
  • March on Washington

    March on Washington
    In this day, 200,000 participants went to Washington D.C. to protest for the jobs and freedom of African Americans. This is also were MLK said his famous, “I Have A Dream” speech, which was one, if not, the most important and memorable speech of American history. Here pictured is the national headquarters of the ones who planned this march.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

    Civil Rights Act of 1964
    The Congress passed the act to make laws segregation in public spaces illegal. This includes Jim Crow laws, in which many African Americans rejoiced for their freedom.
  • Bloody Sunday

    Bloody Sunday
    On March 7, protesters on the Selma-Montgomery March were violently beaten, which lasted an impact on the members who were protesting. One pastor, James Jackson, explained, “After the injunction, civil rights workers could not meet in churches. For a period of six months, there were no mass meetings.”
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965

    Voting Rights Act of 1965
    This act makes poll taxes and literacy texts illegal to do for any race, another big step in the Civil Rights Movement. This specifically increased employment for African Americans.
  • Black Panther Party forms

    Black Panther Party forms
    This party was established on 1966 in Oakland, California. During the period of 1969 to 1971, they became popular and had support especially with NAACP and SCLC.
  • Project Deep

    Project Deep
    St. George Rosenwald School in South Carolina was one of the schools that was built from the Rosenwald School Program during the Progressive Era. During 1967-1969, this school was used as the home of this project, in which segregated schools were turned into integrated schools in the Dochester County.
  • Affirmative Action goes into effect

    Affirmative Action goes into effect
    This is government policies that address systemic discrimination among students at university. Even though it was first mentioned by John F. Kennedy back in 1961, this type of affirmative action was put into effect until 1967, when Lyndon B. Johnson was running.
  • Assasination of MLK

    Assasination of MLK
    On the morning in Lorriene Motel near Memphis, MLK was assasinated. This death sparked looting and riots as many mourned.
  • Fair Housing Act

    Fair Housing Act
    This act was passed seven days after MLK’s assassination. It is so there wouldn’t be any discrimination on housing property, which helped many African Americans own a home.
  • Congressional Black Caucus is Formed

    Congressional Black Caucus is Formed
    On January of 1969, African American members of the House of Representatives created the Democratic Select Committee. This will later become the Congressional Black Caucus, who will play a big role in the Free South Africa Movement and the founding of TransAfrica, an education program dedicated to bringing information to Africa and their dispersion from their homeland.
  • Title IX

    Title IX
    Discrimination is schools stopped as Title IX aimed to promoted discrimination in federally funded education programs.
  • Boston’s “busing crisis”

    Boston’s “busing crisis”
    4,000 white protestors stormed into the Boston Common claiming that the courts ruling on creating a busing program earlier in the summer was too much. They pelted eggs at the senator Edward Kennedy addressing the situation and after being retreating, they started to pound on the windows.
  • Robert Williams charges

    Robert Williams charges
    Robert Willams was prosecuted for kidnapping by the FBI. All of his charges were dropped on this day.
  • Busing program of Delaware

    Busing program of Delaware
    Due to the excessive white flight, the federal court decided to diversify the schools. However, this didn’t stop the white population from declining
  • Willy T. Ribs

    Willy T. Ribs
    Willy T. Ribs becomes the first African American to participate in the Indianapolis 500, and racecar tournament.
  • 2008 election

    2008 election
    The elections 2008 included Barack Obama, who will become our 44th president. This sparked a huge civil achievement, where the majority voted for what they offer instead of their race.
  • Barack Obama’s Inauguration

    Barack Obama’s Inauguration
    Barack Obama becomes the first African American president to be enacted in office.
  • Shooting of Trayvon Martin

    Shooting of Trayvon Martin
    On this day Trayvon Martin was killed by a neighbor watch, who said he “looked suspicious.” This and his saying he did this for self-defense prompted him to be not guilty in trial that was taken more than a year later. This event also sparked the formation on BLM.
  • Shelby v. Holder

    Shelby v. Holder
    In this court case, they changed jurisdictions required of federal approval in the Voting Rights, as it was declared unconstitutional. This sparked outrage among many.
  • BLM movement kicks off to mainstream media

    BLM movement kicks off to mainstream media
    While this program has started in 2013, it wasn’t until George Floyd’s death where the outrage and vitality of it sparked protests around the country. Thus, many people online and outside made the effort to help the program in need.