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Brown v Board of Education
Brown v Board of Education was a landmark US supreme court case in which the court decided state laws that segregated schools was unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v Ferguson decision of 1896. -
White Citizens Council
The White Citizens Council were an associated network of white supremacist, extreme right, organizations in the US, concentrated in the south. The groups were founded primarily to oppose racial integration of schools. They also opposed voter registration efforts and integration of public facilities. -
Brown v Board of Education II
Brown v Board of Education II was a supreme court case decided in 1955. With many all-white schools in the US not obeying the decision a year earlier, Brown v Board of Education II ruled that these schools must integrate "with all deliberate speed". -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a civil-rights protest during which African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating. The protest took place in December 1955 and is regarded as the first large-scale US demonstration against segregation -
Lynching of Emmett Till
Emmett Till was a 14 year-old African-American who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 because he said "hey babe" to a white woman in a candy store. Till was from Chicago and was visiting family in Mississippi. Till was unaware of the harsh segregation in the south. The funeral was an event covered nationally. -
Rosa Parks arrested
On December 1, 1995 Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a city bus in Montgomery. This event sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, an eleven month struggle to desegregate the city's buses. -
MLK House Bombing
The home of MLK was bombed on January 30, 1956. To this day no one has been prosecuted. -
Bombing of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth
On December 25, 1956 KKK members bombed the home of civil rights activist Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. Shuttlesworth was home at the time of the bombing. The blast destroyed the home but no one suffered serious injury. -
Eisenhower Sends in Federal Troops
Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to ensure the safety of the Little Rock 9. The Little Rock 9 were the 9 African American students who attended an all white school -
SCLC founded
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. MLK was the first president. SCLC had a big role in the civil rights movement. -
Greensboro sit ins
The Greensboro sit-in was a civil rights protest that started in 1960, when young African-American students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and would not leave after being denied service. The sit in movement spread to college towns throughout the south. This had a lasting impact. -
SNCC Formed
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was founded in April, 1960. It emerged from the first wave of student sit-ins. It was created to give a voice to younger blacks in the civil rights movement. -
Albany Georgia "failure"
The Albany movement was a desegregation and voter's right coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November of 1961. Although the movement is viewed as a failure by some due to its unsuccessful attempt at desegregating public spaces in Southwest Georgia, others say it set an example for future civil rights movements. -
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Freedom Rides
Freedom riders were groups of white and African American civil rights activists. They participated in freedom rides to protest segregated bus terminals. The groups were confronted by whites and beaten viciously. -
White mob attacks federal marshals in Montgomery
The Freedom riders were beaten by a white mob in Montgomery. Some were beaten unconscious. -
Bailey v Patterson
The ruling of the court in Bailey v. Patterson prohibited the segregation of interstate and intrastate transportation facilities. This included trains, buses, planes and other forms of public transportation. -
MLK goes to a Birmingham Jail
King was put in jail for perjury charges. He was released on bail. -
Equal Pay Act
The Equal Pay act of 1963 aimed to abolish the wage disparity. It was signed into law on June 10, 1963 by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program. -
Kennedy sends in federal troops
JFK issued proclamation 3542, forcing Alabama Governor George Wallace to comply with federal courts and allow to african-american students to enroll in the summer session at the University of Alabama. -
Assassination of Medgar Evers
African American civil rights leader Medgar Evers was shot to death by white supremacist by Byron De La Beckwith on June 12, 1963. Evers was a member of the NAACP. -
March On Washington
The March on Washington was a massive protest march that occurred in August 1963. 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The event aimed to draw attention to continuing inequalities faced by African Americans and also included MLK's famous "I have a dream" speech. -
Bombing of a church in Birmingham
A bomb exploded before Sunday morning services at the 16th street Baptist church in Birmingham. The church served as a meeting place for rights leaders. -
Assassination of JFK
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the US, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963 in Dallas Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested by the Dallas Police Department, and was charged with murder. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It is one of the most important events in the Civil Rights era. -
24th Amendment
The 24th amendment was ratified in 1964. The amendment prohibited requiring a poll tax for voters in federal elections. -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer was a 1964 voter registration drive sponsored by civil rights organizations. It aimed to increase black voter registration in Mississippi. The KKK, police and state and local authorities carried out violent attacks against the members. -
Killing of Goodman, Chaney, Schwerner
The murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner involved 3 activists that were abducted and murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi. It took place in June 1964. -
Assassination of Malcom X
Malcom X was assassinated on February 21, 1965 by rival black muslims. Malcom X was a civil rights activist, but he differed from MLK because he believed in "any means necessary" for the liberation of African Americans. -
Selma to Montgomery March
The Selma to Montgomery March was part of a series of protests in Alabama that year. They marched from Selma to Montgomery and were met by white groups with violence. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights act of 1965 aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local level that prevented African Americans from voting. The act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. -
Black Panthers Formed
The Black Panther Party or the BPP was a political organization founded by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton in October 1966. The party aimed to challenge police brutality against the African American community. -
Loving v Virginia
Loving v Virginia is a landmark civil rights decision of the US Supreme court, which invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Mildred Loving, a women of color, and Richard Loving, a white man brought the case to court after Richard was sentenced to a year in prison in Virginia. -
Minneapolis Riots
On the night of July 19, 1967, racial tension in North Minneapolis erupted along Plymouth Avenue in a series of acts of arson, vandalism, and assaults. The violence lasted for 3 nights. -
Detroit Riots
The 1967 Detroit riots composed mainly of confrontations between blacks and police. The riots lasted 5 days and resulted in 43 deaths, 1,189 injured, and 7,200 arrests. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968. King had led the civil rights movement since the mid 1950s. King used nonviolent speeches and passionate speeches to fight segregation in the south. -
Assassination of Robert "Bobby" Kennedy
On June 5, 1968, 42 year-old presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was mortally wounded after midnight at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He had just won the California presidential primaries in the 1968 election. He was shot by Sirhan Sirhan.
