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President Truman signs Executive Order 9981
President Truman signed the Executive Order 9981 on 26th of July 1948. This document states "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." -
Segregation ends in schools
On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court issued it's landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling, which declared that segregation in public schools was to end. This was very important because the disparity was particularly clear in public schools, where the amouont of financing and the standard of education for all black schools lagged a huge amount behind all white school. -
Bus Boycott- Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat
On December 1, 1955, a black woman by the name of 'Rosa Parks' refuses to give up her seat at the front of the 'coloured section' of a bus to a white passenger, even after the bus conductor instucting her to move. Rosa Parks was then arrested for her actions. After her actions the Montgomery black community launches the bus boycott, which lasted for more than a year, until the buses desegregated, on December 21, 1956. -
Little Rock Nine
The little rock nine were a group of African Amercian students. September 1957, these students enrolled at a formerly all-white Central High school in Little rock. On September 4, 1957, the first day at Central High, Governor Orval Faubus called in the state Nation Guard to stop the black students from entry into the school.
Later that month President Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the 'Little Rock Nine' into the school, they started their first full day of school on September 25. -
First Black to enroll at the Univeristy of Mississippi
On October 1, 1962, James Meredith became the first black student to attempt to enroll at the University of Mississippi.Chaos briefly broke out on the Ole Miss campus, with riots ending in two dead, hundreds wounded and many others arrested, this caused President Kennnedy to send 5,000 ferdal troops. -
Martin Luther King was arrested
On April 16, 1963 Martin Luther King was arrested and sent to jail because he and others were protesting the treatment of Blacks in Birmingham, Alabama. He also wrote his seminal "Letter from Birmingham Jail," arguging that individuals have the moral duty to disobey unjust laws. -
Malcolm X assassinated
On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X, a black nationalist and founder of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, is shot to death while speaking at a rally of his organization in New York City. It is believed the assailants are members of the Black Muslim faith, which Malcolm had recently abandoned in favor of orthodox Islam. -
Congress passed Voting Rights Act
On August 10, 1965 Congress passed Voting Rights Act, making it easier for Southern blacks to register to vote. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and other such requirements that were used to restrict black voting are made illegal. -
Martin Luther King was assassinated
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King at the age of 39 was shot while he was standing on the balcony outside his hotel room, the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was planning to make a speech aboutt sanitation workers.
