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NAACP was founded
In 1909, Du Bois, Terrell, and others gathered in New York City, NY, where they founded the NAACP on February 12, 1909, to fight racism and violence against all people of color in the United States. -
Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson stepped onto Ebbets Field for his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was the beginning of an unparalleled career in baseball. At the end of his explosive nine years as a Dodger, his record included a . 311 batting average, 137 home runs, 734 runs batted in, and 197 stolen bases. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Citation: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Opinion; May 17, 1954; Records of the Supreme Court of the United States; Record Group 267; National Archives. In this milestone decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. -
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man-
Summary. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her courageous act of protest was considered the spark that ignited the Civil Rights movement. For decades, Martin Luther King Jr.'s fame overshadowed hers. -
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 established a Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice and empowered a temporary Commission on Civil Rights and the attorney general to investigate and prosecute voting right infringements. -
Desegregation of Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas
Description: The desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, gained national attention on September 3, 1957, when Governor Orval Faubus mobilized the Arkansas National Guard in an effort to prevent nine African American students from integrating the high school. -
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Sit-in at Woolworth’s lunch counter
The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in February to July 1960, primarily in the Woolworth store — now the International Civil Rights Center and Museum — in Greensboro, North Carolina, which led to the F. W. Woolworth Company department store chain removing its policy of racial segregation in the -
CORE “freedom ride”
The Freedom Rides, organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1961, were a series of bus trips through the South to challenge segregation on interstate buses and bus terminals, aiming to test compliance with Supreme Court rulings against segregation in public transportation -
Dr. King was thrown into Birmingham Jail
On April 10, 1963, a state judge granted city officials an injunction banning all anti-segregation protest activity in the city of Birmingham. Dr. King and the Rev. Abernathy chose to lead a march in defiance of the injunction and were arrested on April 12, 1963. -
March on Washington
On August 28, 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a massive demonstration in support of civil rights, drew over 250,000 people to Washington, D.C., where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech. -
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964
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“Bloody Sunday”
Today marks the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, a march held in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 for the 600 people attacked on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. It was there that law enforcement officers beat unarmed marchers with billy clubs and sprayed them with tear gas. -
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. -
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated
Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights activist, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m at age 39.