-
Emmett Till
Emmett Till, a fourteen year old kid from Chicago, was visiting some family in Mississippi when he allegedly began to flirt with a white woman. The woman's husband, Roy Bryant, along with a few of his friends ended up abducting Till and eventually killed him, dumping his body in the Tallahatchie River. He was found washed up on the shore a few days after his death. This event was one of the catalysts which helped mobilize the Civil Rights Movement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott, spurred by the arrest of Rosa Parks, was a peaceful protest in which African Americans boycotted the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama. The boycott lasted just over a year and ended only when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of integration on public buses. -
Little Rock Nine
After the Supreme Court rules against segregation in schools, nine African American students attempted to enroll in Central High School in Little Rock, AR. The first morning of school, the nine students were met by a mob of white students and parents who were all against the integration of schools. In addition, the Governor at the time actually had the National Guard at the school to stop the black students from entering the school. -
Youth Movement: SNCC and Sit-Ins
SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) was a committee formed by black college students in which black youth began to peacefully demonstrate in areas in which they had been/were denied service. Many of the students would enter places such as restaurants and refuse to leave until they were served. -
Freedom Riders
The Freedom Riders were a group of 13 individuals (both black and white) who vehemently advocated for Civil Rights. They made many bus trips through Southern States and tried to encourage integration by going into places that were labelled for "whites only". The freedom riders were unfortunately often met with violence and resistance wherever they went. -
James Meredith and Ole Miss
When James Meredith, a black man, enrolled at the University of Mississippi, there was much backlash. Many riots ensued which eventually ended in the death of many students. However, many did support Meredith and eventually he became the first African American to attend Ole Miss. -
Letter From a Birmingham Jail (Philosophy of Nonviolence)
To help gain Civil Rights, Dr. King helped create and participated in what was known as the Birmingham Campaign. The Birmingham Campaign supported a strategy of nonviolent and peaceful protests/demonstrations. "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in response the harsh conditions he faced in Birmingham Jail after being wrongfully imprisoned during one of the peaceful demonstrations. -
Project C and Children's March
Project C, also known as the Birmingham Campaign, was a movement organized by Dr. King. The Children's March was over the course of three days in which thousands of black kids left school to march. The police, not knowing how to react to the schoolkids, used arrested as many of the kids as they could and used fire hoses to try and disperse the kid demonstrators on the streets. -
March on Washington
Hundreds of thousands of Americans rallied on Washington DC, the capital in 1963. The March was organized by multiple groups and was done to try and help the Civil Rights Movement gain more momentum. -
Freedom Summer
Starting in 1964, Freedom Summer served to help African Americans register to vote in the south. Freedom Summer was created by the SNCC and the CORE (Congress on Racial Equality). The first site of the Freedom Summer project was Mississippi. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act, spurred by all the efforts of the African American community in America. The Act stopped segregation in public places, banned discrimination on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Act was supported and signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. -
Malcolm X
Malcolm X was a well-known leader of the Civil Rights Movement in America during the 1960s. He was an American Muslim who advocated for a more forceful approach to gaining equality in America (different than the approach of Dr. King). He believed in black supremacy. Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965 while speaking to his Organization of Afro-American Unity. -
Selma to Montgomery March
Martin Luther King Jr. with the help of the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Congerence), started a march in Selma, Alabama to help register more black voters in the South. The March was televised and helped the Civil Rights Movement gain more social and legislative footing. -
Voting Rights Act
Another Act signed in by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Voting Rights Act served to protect African American's right to vote in places where barriers had been put in place to try and prevent them from exercising their right to vote, particularly in the southern states.
