Civil Rights

  • Women's Suffrage

    Women's Suffrage
    Women had fought for equal rights for 100 years. Up until August 26th, 1920, women were denied equal rights to men. Activists had been struggling to fight for these rights until the 19th Amendment was finally ratified, finally declaring that they deserve all rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    Montgomery Bus Boycott
    Spanning from December 5th, 1955 to December 20th, 1956 the Montgomery bus boycott, started by Rosa Parks, was the first U.S. demonstration against segregation. After years of sitting in the back of the buses to accommodate whites, African Americans protested against segregated seating and the boycott began.
  • Little Rock Nine

    Little Rock Nine
    Arkansas National Guard along with a threatening screaming mob met nine students at Central High School trying to attend class. After a few weeks, they tried again but where forced to leave once violence ensued. Eisenhower had to intervene and ordered federal troops to escort the students to their class. They still faced harassment though. This brought major attention and fueled protests on each side of the matter.
  • Chicano Movement

    Chicano Movement
    The Mexican-American movement is one of the least studied social movements of the 1960's. This movement was involved in a wide section of issues involving the racism Americans had towards Latinos. Many things were resolved in this time and they even accomplished getting nine of their people elected into Congress.
  • Greensboro Sit-In

    Greensboro Sit-In
    In downtown Greensboro, four students sat at the counter at Woolworth's. They refused service from everyone except white's. After being denied their service, the four men refused giving their seats up. Johns had already alerted social media and who arrived fully ready to cover the event. Police, however, could not arrest them due to lack of provocation. The store had closed and that entire day they continued to stay seated, and more people returned to join in the next day.
  • Freedom Riders

    Freedom Riders
    The freedom riders were a group of white and African people who attended freedom rides. Freedom rides were essentially bus rides, in the South, to protest against segregated bus terminals. They would do things like use "white's only restrooms, and sit at counters in bus terminals. They were often confronted by police, and violence usually followed from white protestors, but they achieved to collect international attention to their cause.
  • Birmingham Campaign

    Birmingham Campaign
    One of the most influential movements occurred in Birmingham, Alabama. Students attended in a peaceful walk, but were however encountered with violence from the law. However, this peaceful protest paved the way for King's reputation, and would lead us into the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
  • Children's March

    Children's March
    On May 2nd, of 1963 the children's march was to begin. The children referred to this day as the "D-Day", and were expected to skip school and attend in this march. Many parents were skeptical and not wanting them to go due to violence. We later find out they had every right to. Law enforcements sprayed the children with hoses and some kids were even attacked by the police dogs. Media was there though, and this successfully helped raise awareness for black rights.
  • March on Washington

    March on Washington
    After what had happened in Birmingham, the Kennedy administration decided to take action. Civil rights bill was proposed to allow blacks equal rights in public facilities and outlawed discrimination and segregation amongst the employment. Opposition was still an issue so a massive march was composed and thousands gathered around Washington, where MLK delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech which was on full press and television and inspired thousands to join in on the civil rights movement.
  • Selma March

    Selma March
    This was a big step as far as civil rights go. This protest was to try to get black votes registered. Starting in Selma, Alabama and further marching 54 miles to the capitol, Montgomery. They were confronted with deadly violence from local authorities and white vigilante groups. This 3 day march, protected by the National Guard troops, helped raise awareness of black voting rights.