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Civil Rights Digital Timeline Project

  • The supreme Court Decision of Plessy v. Ferguson

    The supreme Court Decision of Plessy v. Ferguson
    Ferguson, Judgement, Decided May 18, 1896; Records of the Supreme Court of the United States; Record Group 267; Plessy v. Ferguson, 163, #15248, National Archives. The ruling in this Supreme Court case upheld a Louisiana state law that allowed for "equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races."
  • The integration of little rock high school

    The integration of little rock high school
    The desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, gained national attention on September 3, 1957, when Governor Orval Faubus mobilized the Arkansas National Guard in an effort to prevent nine African American students from integrating the high school
  • The Tuskegee Airmen

    The Tuskegee Airmen
    From 1941-1946, some 1,000 Black pilots were trained at Tuskegee. The Airmen's success in escorting bombers during World War II – having one of the lowest loss records of all the escort fighter groups, and being in constant demand for their services by the allied bomber units.
  • the supreme court decision of sweatt v. painter

    the supreme court decision of sweatt v. painter
    The Supreme Court ruled that in states where public graduate and professional schools existed for white students but not for black students, black students must be admitted to the all-white institutions, and that the equal protection clause required Sweatt's admission to the University of Texas School of Law.
  • The supreme court decision of brown v board of education

    The supreme court decision of brown v board of education
    separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional.
  • the death of emmit till

    the death of emmit till
    Emmett Louis Till was a 14-year-old African American youth, who was abducted and lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery store.
  • The Montgomery Bus boycott

    The Montgomery Bus boycott
    "The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a civil rights protest during which African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating. The boycott took place from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, and is regarded as the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against segregation
  • The civil rights act of 1957

    The civil rights act of 1957
    The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The bill was passed by the 85th United States Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 9, 1957.
  • The freedom rides by freedom riders of 1961

    The freedom rides by freedom riders of 1961
    Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States
  • The twenty-fourth Amendment

    The twenty-fourth Amendment
    abolished and forbids the federal and state governments from imposing taxes on voters during federal elections
  • The integration of the university of mississippi

    The integration of the university of mississippi
    In 1962, a federal appeals court ordered the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, an African-American student
  • The integration of the University of Alabama

    The integration of the University of Alabama
    The successful integration of The University of Alabama that began on June 11, 1963, opened doors not only to two Black students, but for decades of progress toward becoming an inclusive campus.
  • The march on Washington and "I have a dream" speech by MLK

    The march on Washington and "I have a dream" speech by MLK
    King called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States.
  • The assassination of John f Kennedy in Dallas Texas

    The assassination of John f Kennedy in Dallas Texas
    Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was visiting Texas in an attempt to smooth over frictions in the Democratic Party
  • The civil rights act of 1964 signed by president Johnson

    The civil rights act of 1964 signed by president Johnson
    prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal.
  • The assassination of Malcom X

    The assassination of Malcom X
    US black nationalist leader Malcolm X was assassinated on 21 February 1965, at the age of 39. The BBC reported on the reaction in his adopted home of Harlem, New York, as thousands of people queued to pay their last respects.
  • The selma to Montgomery March: "Bloody Sunday"

    The selma to Montgomery March: "Bloody Sunday"
    Alabama Highway Patrol troopers attack civil rights demonstrators outside Selma, Alabama, on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965. On March 7, 1965, an estimated 525 to 600 civil rights marchers headed southeast out of Selma on U.S. Highway 80.
  • The voting rights act of 1965

    The voting rights act of 1965
    An act to enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States and for other purposes
  • the assassination of Martin Luther king Jr in Memphis tennessee

    the assassination of Martin Luther king Jr in Memphis tennessee
    At 6:05 P.M. on Thursday, 4 April 1968, Martin Luther King was shot dead while standing on a balcony outside his second-floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. News of King's assassination prompted major outbreaks of racial violence, resulting in more than 40 deaths nationwide and extensive property
  • The Voting Rights act of 1968

    The Voting Rights act of 1968
    The Civil Rights Act of 1968 is a landmark law in the United States signed into law by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during the King assassination riots.
  • The Greensboro four lunch counter sit-in

    The Greensboro four lunch counter sit-in
    act of nonviolent protest against a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina
  • The Intergration of major Leauge Baseball

    The Intergration of major  Leauge Baseball
    For nearly 60 years baseball was a segregated sport as the American and National Leagues that formed Major League Baseball unofficially banned African-Americans from their ranks. That all changed when Jackie Robinson stepped onto the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947