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The Supreme Court Decision of Plessy v. Ferguson
Supreme Court case upheld a Louisiana state law that allowed for "equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races." -
The Tuskegee Airmen
They constituted the first African American flying unit in the U.S. military. -
The Integration of Major League Baseball
The end of segregation led to a golden age of Major League Baseball, where many of the biggest stars were African American including Jackie Robinson. -
The Integration of the Armed Forces
President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, creating the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services. The order mandated the desegregation of the U.S. military. -
The Supreme Court Decision of Sweatt v. Painter
In a unanimous decision, the Court held that the Equal Protection Clause required that Sweatt be admitted to the university. The Court found that the "law school for Negroes," which was to have opened in 1947, would have been grossly unequal to the University of Texas Law School. -
The Supreme Court Decision of Brown v. Board of Education
Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. -
The Death of Emmett Till
The murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 brought nationwide attention to the racial violence and injustice prevalent in Mississippi. -
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Lasting 381 days, the Montgomery Bus Boycott resulted in the Supreme Court ruling segregation on public buses unconstitutional. -
The Integration of Little Rock 9
Governor Orval Faubus mobilized the Arkansas National Guard in an effort to prevent nine African American students from integrating the high school. -
The Civil RIghts Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 authorized the prosecution for those who violated the right to vote for United States citizens. -
The Greensboro Four Lunch Counter Sit-In
On February 1, 1960, four friends sat down at a lunch counter in Greensboro. That may not sound like a legendary moment, but it was. The four people were African American, and they sat where African Americans weren't allowed to sit. They did this to take a stand against segregation. -
The Freedom Rides by Freedom Riders of 1961
During the spring of 1961, student activists from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) launched the Freedom Rides to challenge segregation on interstate buses and bus terminals. -
The 24th Amendment
The amendment prohibited requiring a poll tax for voters in federal elections. -
The irrigation of the university of Mississippi
On September 30, 1962, riots erupted on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford where locals, students, and committed segregationists had gathered to protest the enrollment of James Meredith, a black Air Force veteran attempting to integrate the all-white school. -
The Irrigation of the university of Alabama
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy's administration ordered the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division from Ft. Benning, Georgia, to be prepared to enforce the racial integration of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, which they were able to do. -
The March on Washington and "I have a Dream" Speech by MLK
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or the Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. -
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas
Shortly after noon on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed by President Johnson
President Lyndon Johnson signed it into law just a few hours after it was passed by Congress on July 2, 1964. The act outlawed segregation in businesses such as theaters, restaurants, and hotels. -
The Assassination of Malcolm X
On Feb. 21, 1965, Malcolm X was ambushed and fatally shot while delivering a speech. His wife and daughters were in the audience. Three men were convicted of his murder. -
The Selma to Montgomery March: "Bloody Sunday"
Approximately at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 7, 1965 , 300 protestors, led by Hosea Williams, John Lewis, Albert Turner and Bob Mants, gathered at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma and proceeded through town to the Edmund Pettus Bridge. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act was signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting. -
The Assassination of MLK Jr. in Memphis, TN
On April 4, 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated here at the Lorraine Motel, just a day after delivering his prophetic "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech at the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1968
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, similar to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibited racial discrimination in voting. The Act was later expanded to help protect the right to vote for racial minorities throughout the country (mainly the South).