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Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a 13-month demonstration in which African Americans stopped riding Public Buses that required them to give up their seats to white Americans. The Montgomery Improvement Association coordinated the Boycott after Rosa Park's arrest and distributed flyers (attatched image) along with the Women’s Political Council of Montgomery. The boycott ended with the US Supreme Court ruling that “segregation on public buses is unconstitutional”. -
Integration of Little Rock Central High School
On May 17 1954, the US Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Three years later, nine black students enrolled at Little Rock Central High School, a previously all white school. The Governor of Arkansas enlisted the state guard to prevent the students' attendance, so President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the "Little Rock Nine" to attend their first day of school. -
Freedom Riders
The Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who travelled through the South on regular buses for seven months, testing the Supreme Court ruling declaring 'segregated facilities for interstate passengers illegal'. Images of their attacked bus spread and the popularity of the Freedom rides rose. Over 400 volunteers participated, and after increasing violence that drew mass media attention, the Interstate Commerce Commission prohibited segregation in bus and train stations across the US. -
Freedom Summer Murders
On 21 June, 1964, three civil rights workers went missing in Mississippi. James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner had been shot dead by a white mob, after being released from arrest by Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price. FBI agents found the bodies on 4 August and arranged for nineteen of the men to be charged for obstruction of civil rights in the Supreme Court. Seven of the men were found guilty, with sentences ranging from three to ten years imprisonment. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It declared that discrimination on the base of race, colour, sex or national origin is illegal throughout the United States of America. It enforced anti-segregation laws that strongly opposed white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Whilst it did not completely eradicate discrimination, it was a significant step forward for "self respect and human dignity" (Martin Luther King, Jr.). -
Black Power Salute
At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City after the 200m sprint, two African American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, stood upon the podium, bowed their heads and raised their black-gloved fists. It was an iconic image that captured the attention of the world and quickly became a popular symbol for the Black Power movement. It sent a message that America must treat blacks as equals. Carlos said “We knew that what we were going to do was far greater than any athletic feat".
