Civil Right Movement

Brown vs. Board of Education

May 17, 1954

Supreme court ruled that the segregation of schools was unconstitutional and inherently unequal.

Civil Rights Movement

Period: May 17, 1954 to Apr 4, 1968

Rosa Parks

Dec 1, 1955

In December 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of the bus when she was told to move to the back which was designated for African-Americans. She was arrested and she was credited for sparking the Civil Right Movement.

Little Rock

Sep 1, 1957

9 African-American students start attending an all white school. The students have to be escorted by military personnel because of harassment.

Freedom Rides

May 4, 1961

Civil Rights activists took buses into segregated areas of the south and were often beaten by mobs and/or arrested. Pictured here are John Lewis (left) and James Zwerg (right).

Intergration of Mississippi Universities

Sep 2, 1962

James Meredith wins a court case and is allowed admission to the University of Mississippi. Robert Kennedy issues him military personnel to attend. Students attacked Meredith and the U.S. Marshalls with gunfire and rocks. Many of the Marshalls suffered gunshot wounds.

March on Washington

Aug 28, 1963

200 to 300 thousand marchers descended on the Lincold Memorial to support the Kennedy Administration's Civil Rights bill. This was also the site of the famous, "I Have A Dream" speech, by Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil Rights Act

Jul 2, 1964

President Lyndon Johnson pushes a bill through congress that banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender and nationality.

Selma to Montgomery

Mar 7, 1965

Due to voter discrimination against African-American, 600 peaceful demonstrators begin a 54 mile march from Selma to Montgomery. Police attacked the marches with whips, clubs and tear gas as the national media recorded the events.

Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated

Apr 4, 1968

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

State Standard

Aug 8, 1968

United States History
Grades 9-12 *The student will understand the changes in legal definitions of individual rights in the 1960s and 1970s and the social movements that prompted them.