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Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Martin Luther King, Charles Steele and Fred Shuttlesworth established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of which King was president. The SCLC was paramount in organizing the Civil Rights Movement, based on principles of nonviolence and civil disobedience.
*Start date is month and year only -
Little Rock Nine
Little Rock Nine comes to light as public school integration proves challenging when nine black students were blocked from entering the formerly all-white Central HS in Arkansas.
*Start date is month and year only -
North Carolina Sit-ins
Greensboro, NC. Lunch counter sit-ins begin where four African American college students’ request for service at Woolworth, a store in North Carolina was denied. The students peacefully refused to leave when asked, demonstrating the same nonviolent, civil disobedient principles held by King. -
Freedom Writers
Freedom Riders begin taking bus trips through the south to test out new laws that prohibit segregation in interstate travel facilities including bus and railway stations. They are attacked by angry mobs, some injured badly and others jailed. -
James Meredith
James Meredith is admitted as the first black student at the University of Mississippi. Violence and rights cause President Kennedy to have to send in 5,000 troops -
Martin Luther King Jailed
Martin Luther King is arrested and jailed during anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, Ala. He writes the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. In it, he argues that individuals have the moral duty to disobey unjust laws. -
March on Washington
200,000 people participate in the March on Washington. Martin Luther King delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech. -
Discriminatory Violence
Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene Connor turns fire hoses and police dogs on black demonstrators. Images of the attacks on television and in publications draw sympathy for the civil rights movement
*Start date is month and year only -
24th Amendment
The 24th amendment abolishes the poll tax that made it difficult for poor blacks to vote. -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer, the movement to register black voters is carried out by civil rights groups.
*Start date is month and year only -
Civil Rights Act 1964
President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The legislation prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin. This law provided the federal government with the means to enforce desegregation.
