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Brown v. Board of Education
On May 17th, 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education was brought to the Supreme Court. Oliver Brown and Linda Brown were involved. This took place in Topeka, Kansas. Five cases from Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia were brought into one cases for the Supreme Court. Where the Court declared that segregation in public school was unconstitutional. This was a violation of the fourteenth amendment. -
Murder of Emmett Till
Emmett Till, a fourteen year old African boy from Chicago, went to Money, Mississippi to visit his family. He was accused of whistling to a white women and later was kidnapped by Roy Bryant and others. Emmett body was found in the water weighted down by a 75 pound cotton gin fan. His body was tortured so bad where is body was almost unable to be identified but his mother was able to identify her boy. Roy and JW Milan were found not guilty but later admitted they did do kill and kidnapped Emmett. -
Rosa Parks and the bus boycott
On December 1st, 1955, Rosa refused to give up her seat for a white man. Rosa refusing led her to go into jail. MLK Jr and churches sent out flyers to boycott the bus system. A bus boycott became in where they didn’t get on a bus for 381 days. A Supreme Court law ruling said there will be no more segregation of public transportation. Rosa later recognized through a Jet magazine. She received a congressional gold medal. Layer died on October 24, 2005. -
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
On January 10th to 11, SCLC was form. The group was about African-Americans civil rights organization based in Atlanta. MLK Jr and 60 pastors came together to let the people know how they should desegregate schools, black vote, and better jobs for black. The group used a nonviolent strategy. MLK Jr was the 1st president of the organization and the organization is still active now. -
Little Rock 9
On September 4th, 1957, nine black children wanted to attend a white school. During this time the blacks and white were desegregated. The governor of Arkansas did not approve of this and made the national guard come in and stopped them. Due to the Brown v Board of education, President Eisenhower order 1,200 to escort the kids from home to school. This led to the governor to shut down all the schools in Arkansas but in 1959 all the schools became fully integrated. -
Greensboro Sit ins
The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in February 1st, 1960. Four colleges students sit down at the lunch counter but were refused service. They were told to move but they stayed. Everyday they came back and the amount of students grew day by day. Around 6,000 students came back by the days. -
Freedom Riders
On May 1st, 1961 was the start of the Freedom Riders. The riders rode the bus to the segregated Southern side. They tried to desegregate bus stations, diner, and hotels. When they tried to arrive to Anniston, Alabama they were blocked by the KKK. The KKK slashes the tires, burned buses, and fire bombed. -
March on Washington
On August 23rd, 1963 people came together to March in Washington. About two hundred and fifty thousand people marched together. They marched for jobs and freedom. The protest was nonviolent and respectful. In this march, Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous speech “I have a dream”. -
Civil Rights Act
On July 2nd, 1964 the Civil Rights Act passed. The act wanted to end discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin. President JFK started to work on the bill but was assassinated in late November. President Lyndon Johnson replaced JFK. -
Malcom X
Malcom X was a civil rights leader. He was the leader of the Nation of Islam. The point he wanted to show was that the blacks should believe in themselves and to start their own business. On February 21, 1965, Malcom was giving a speech in Audubon Ballroom, New York. He was allegedly shot 21 times and Thomas Hagan was convicted for the murder. -
Selma to Montgomery Marches
On March 7th, 1965 was a day known as Bloody Sunday. Black marchers walked fifty four miles to Montgomery to vote. There were about 600 marchers. When they arrived at the Edmond Bridge, the trooper brutally beat them. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was that there will be no discrimination of African Americans when voting. This act happened on August 6th, 1965. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed off on it. This caused is to be a federal matter not state. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr
On April 4th, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated. MLK was known for his “I have a dream” speech. He was at Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was leaning over a balcony talking to Ben Branch. While talking he was shot on the right side of his face and lower neck. He was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital and was pronounced dead. James Earl Ray was the charged for MLK death and sentence to 9o years.