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Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson -
Ella Baker
Ella Josephine Baker was an African-American civil rights and human rights activist. She was a largely behind-the-scenes organizer whose career spanned more than five decades. In New York City and the South, she worked alongside some of the most noted civil rights leaders of the 20th century. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement". -
The Little Rock Nine
Nine Black students are blocked from entering the school on the orders of Governor Orval Faubus. President Eisenhower sends federal troops and the National Guard to intervene on behalf of the students, who become known as the "Little Rock Nine." The plight of these nine individuals draws national attention with all nine of the African-American students being admitted into the school by the end of September. -
The Greensboro Four and the Sit-In Movement
African Americans (later joined by white activists), usually students, would go to segregated lunch counters (luncheonettes), sit in all available spaces, request service, and then refuse to leave when denied service because of their race. -
The Freedom Riders
Over the spring and summer, student volunteers begin taking bus trips through the South to test out new laws that prohibit segregation in interstate travel facilities, which include bus and railway stations. Several of the groups of "freedom riders" are attacked by angry mobs along the way. The program, sponsored by The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), involves more than 1,000 volunteers, both Black and white individuals. -
The March on Washington
A quarter of a million black and white people — more than twice as many as had been expected — marched to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in a show of unity, racial harmony, and support for the civil rights bill. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. gave one of his best-known speeches, inspiring the assembled crowd with the words, "I have a Dream" -
Malcolm X
Malcolm X was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Islam until 1964, he was a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the Black community. -
The Voting Rights Act
On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act into law with Alabama NAACP activist Rosa Parks by his side. Laying out the importance of the bill, Johnson said, "The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men." -
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister, activist, and political philosopher who was one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. -
Fred Hampton
Fredrick Allen Hampton Sr. was an American activist. He came to prominence in his late teens and early 20s in Chicago as deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party and chair of the Illinois chapter. -
A 'Forgotten History' Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America
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The Zoot Suit Riots and Wartime Los Angeles
