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Jackie Robinson Joins the Dodgers
In 1945, Jackie Robinson was recruited by Dodgers president and general manager Branch Rickey, who were determined to end the unwritten segregation rule in the majors. Robinson encountered racism from opposing teams and fans, as well as some of his own teammates. After leaving baseball, Robinson worked as a business executive and continued his involvement in civil rights causes. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
On December 1, 1955, four days before the boycott began, Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, refused to give her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus. She was arrested and fined. The boycott lasted until December 20, 1956. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system. It is regarded as the first large-scale demonstration against segregation in the U.S. -
Greensboro (NC)
On February 1, 1960, the four students sat down at the lunch counter at the Woolworth’s in downtown Greensboro and were Denied service, the four young men refused to give up their seats.By February 5, some 300 students had joined the protest at Woolworth’s, slowing the lunch counter and other local places.In response to the sit-in movement, dining facilities across the South were being integrated by the summer of 1960. -
SNCC Founded
The SNCC emerged from a student meeting organized by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in April 1960. The SNCC played a major role in the sit-ins and freedom rides, a leading role in the 1964 March on Washington, Mississippi Freedom Summer, and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party over the next few years. SNCC's major contribution was in its field work, organizing voter registration drives all over the South. -
March On Washington
On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 Americans gathered in Washington, D.C., for a political rally where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech which called for racial justice and equality. -
16th Street Bombing (Birmingham,AL)
A bomb exploded before Sunday morning services at the 16th Street Baptist Church, with a dominantly black congregation that served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders. 4 young girls were killed and many other people injured. It was the third bombing in 11 days.Outrage over the death of the 4 girls helped increase support behind the continuing struggle to end segregation;support that would help lead to the passage of both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
24th Amendment Passes
The 24th Amendment prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax. Poll taxes were introduced as a measure to prevent African Americans from voting. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Under the Civil Rights Act, segregation on the grounds of race, religion or national origin was banned at all places of public accommodation.The act also forbid race, religious, national origin and gender discrimination by employers and labor unions, and created an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with the power to file lawsuits on behalf of dissatisfied workers. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The act banned the use of literacy tests, provided for federal oversight of voter registration in areas where less than 50 percent of the nonwhite population had not registered to vote, and authorized the U.S. attorney general to investigate the use of poll taxes in state and local elections. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated
Martin Luther King Jr. is fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Martin Luther King Jr. was a major advocate for nonviolence. He was a symbol of direct engagement with the political system . His death led some people to feel angry and dissappointed, as though now only violent resistance to white racism could be effective.
