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Brown II
Although Brown vs. Board of Education achieved desegregation in schools and declared that "Separate but equal" was unconstitutional, it did not extend desegregation in places other than public schools. Therefore, in 1955, the justices set aside the question of enforcement and declared Brown II, an order that all school districts desegregate with all deliberate speed. However, this order was left to be enforced by the very people that opposed it, causing it to be ineffectual. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
After Rosa Parks was arrested, Montgomery's black population formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and coordinated the boycott of the city's buses. The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted from December of 1955 to December 20, 1956, when the the Supreme Court ordered integration on public transportation. The boycott also established the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. as the president of the MIA. -
Rosa Parks Refuses to Surrender Bus Seat
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery City bus and was arrested. There were long-standing rules on Montgomery's public transportation system that required African Americans to surrender their seats to while passengers. Although Parks was not the first to protest against these racist rules, she was the first around whom activists rallied and supported. -
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Founded
In 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was founded as a successor to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). NASA was created to perfect ICBM technology and launch satellites and astronauts into space before the Soviet Union. However, attempts like the Vanguard rocket failed massively and in September, 1959, the Soviet Union's Luna 2 capsule became the first human-made object to touch the moon, effectively winning the "space race." -
Cuban Missile Crisis
In 1962, the Soviet Union deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba in response to the United States' longtime maintenance of a nuclear arsenal in Turkey. In mid-October, American spies detected the construction of missile launch sites and alerted the American public of the danger of a potential nuclear war. Finally, on October 28, the Soviet Union agreed to remove its missiles from Cuba if the United States removed its missiles from Turkey and formally pledged to not invade Cuba. -
MLK's "I Have a Dream" Speech
The August 1963 March on Washington called for civil rights legislation, school integration, an end to discrimination by employers, job training for the unemployed, and a raise in the minimum wage. During this march, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. This speech was renowned world wide for its call for civil rights pushed the movement to new heights and pressured politicians to pass significant legislation. -
1964 Civil Rights Act
Because Brown II was so ineffectual in the South, as well as most other places, desegregation did not occur in most schools. Finally, the 1964 Civil Rights Act provided enforcement from the federal government to implement the Brown decision by threatening to withhold funding from uncooperative school districts. Although some of the southern districts found loopholes, court decisions such as Green vs. New Kent County (1968) closed some of the loopholes like "freedom of choice" plans. -
The Great Society
In May 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson publicized his plan for a collection of domestic reforms called the Great Society. It would aim to end poverty and racial injustice to enrich the nation and advance the quality of the American civilization. It would uplift racially and economically disenfranchised Americans and provide equal democratic and economic opportunity. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act were just a few of the programs established.