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Brown v. Board of Education
This Supreme Court Case ruled that racial segregation in schools is unconstitutional. Linda Brown was denied access to the school because she was black. So, her dad Oliver Brown filed a class-action suit against the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas. -
White Citizens Council
The White Citizens Council is a group of white supremacists and radicals concentrated in the south. This organization was formed to counter all the African-American Groups being formed at this time. -
Brown v. Board of Education II
This court case was a follow up of Brown v. Board of Education I. This case really made the whole integration happen by speeding the process up. -
Lynching of Emmett Till
Emmett Till a 14-year old African-American was brutally murdered by a group of White supremacists for allegedly flirting with a white women. He was beat severely, his eyes were gouged out and was shot in the head just for “Allegedly” flirting with a white women. The murderers were the white woman's husband and her brother. -
Rosa Parks Arrested
Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus. This act sparked a 11 month non-violent bus boycott which helped desegregate city buses. -
Montgomery Bus Boycotts
African-Americans refused to ride the city buses in Montgomery, Alabama. They refused to ride to protest segregated seating on these buses. Right before these protests started, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on public transit. -
Bombing of MLK's House
- Martin Luther King Jr's house was bombed after the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts. The house was bombed by segregationists.
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Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth Church Bombed
The church of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was bombed by the KKK. They through dynamite right next to his room in the church. The dynamite severely injured the church, but he walked away untouched. -
Eisenhower Sends in Federal Troops
President Eisenhower sends in Federal troops to help with the riots in Little Rock and to help African-American students get to class. He also sends in troops to protect these students from the white students trying to hurt them. -
SCLC Founded
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is a group of about 60 African-Americans who help fight for equality in the south for blacks. This group successfully beat the south when they got the segregation of public transportation removed. -
Greensboro Sit-Ins
Many students staged sit ins in the segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. These sit ins forced many other lunch counters including Greensboro to change their policy. -
SNCC Formed
The SNCC was formed to help give young African-Americans a stronger voice during the civil rights movements. At the end of this time period the SNCC became one of the civil rights movement most radical organizations. -
Freedom Rides
The Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate transportation into the segregated south to challenge the non-support from the Supreme Courts. -
Albany Georgia Failure
The Albany movement was a desegregation movement formed by the SNCC. This movement challenged all forms of segregation including school segregation, public segregation and public transportation segregation. -
Bailey v. Patterson Court Case
This was taken to court by many Blacks trying to desegregate interstate and intrastate transportation. It states that they were denied transportation due to the color of their skin. -
MLK Sent to Birmingham Jail
MLK and others were protesting the treatment of Blacks in Birmingham, Alabama when they were sent to jail for illegal protests. Court said that MLK could not hold protests in Birmingham. -
Equal Pay Act
No matter the race, sex, orientation, etc. anyone in the same workplace will be paid the same wage. It is mostly focused on sexual discrimination in workplaces. This Act was signed by President Kennedy in 1963. It helped women earn more money to support their families. -
Kennedy Sends in Federal Troops
President Kennedy sends in Federal troops to help calm tensions between the Blacks and the whites. He also sends in troops to help defend African- Americans from the White Supremacists groups. -
Assassination of Medgar Evers
Medgar, A Civil Rights Activist was shot and killed outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi. He was killed by a white supremacist named Byron De La Beckwith. He was murdered because he was encouraging poor African-Americans to vote in the state of Mississippi -
March on Washington
The March on Washington was a large protest which included 250,000 people of all races. The protest was for jobs and freedom and ran by Martin Luther King Jr. This is where MLK had his famous “I have a dream” speech. -
Birmingham Churched Bombed
A bomb exploded in front of the 16th Street Baptist Church before the Sunday morning service. During this explosion 4 young girls were killed along with many other injured. This attack finally brought national news for the fight between struggling African-Americans and the police in the south. -
Assassination of JFK
- JFK was the 35th President of the United States. He was assassinated in his Presidential Motorcade by Lee Harvey Oswald. The Governor was also hit in the chest. JFK slumped over onto Mrs. Kennedy's lap as he got hit.
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Freedom Summer
The Freedom summer is a summer in which Blacks were pushed to register to vote. These drives were sponsored by CORE and SNCC. The KKK and other white supremacists groups attacked these protesters during this time. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment prohibits anyone from paying a poll tax which was common and had to be paid in order to vote before the 24th Amendment. This Amendment helped many African-Americans because it now allowed them to vote. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act ended segregation in public places and ended employment inequality between races. This act was considered one of the greatest successes of this time. This act was signed in 1964 by Lyndon B. Johnson. -
Murder of Chaney, Goodman, Schwerner
These murders were known as the Freedom Summer Murders. These men were kidnapped and murdered because they were trying to help African-Americans vote in Mississippi. The three were most likely shot by police after leaving the jail they were held at for a speeding violation. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This Act exercised helping African-Americans overcome their exclusion from voting. This Act was signed by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. This Act is considered one of the most far-fetched Acts of its time. -
White Mob Attacks Federal Troops
400 Federal troops were sent to Montgomery, Alabama after white mobs sparked racial violence against blacks. -
Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X was assassinated by rival Black Muslims when speaking out about his organization, Afro-Americans Unity. Malcolm’s Father was brutally murdered by white supremacists which sparked his son’s attention to this problem. -
Selma to Montgomery March
There were three protest/marches going from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery which is the Capital of Alabama. During the march the African-Americans were attacked by white civil groups and state authority trying to stop the march from happening. -
Black Panthers Formed
This organization was formed by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale to protest the brutality against African-Americans. They wore black leather jackets and black barrets, they organized armed protests in Oakland and many other cities in the U.S. -
Loving v. Virginia
This case was between a Virginia and a couple by the names of Richard and Mildred Loving. This case struck down the interracial marriage laws in Virginia. Loving vs Virginia is also known for the beginning of the Jim Crow Laws. -
Minneapolis Riots
Riots took place on Plymouth Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. North Minneapolis was a place where Jews and African-Americans lived restricting them from living anywhere else. This caused tension and finally riots. -
Detroit Riot
The Detroit Riots were known as the bloodiest and most destructive riots during this time period. 43 people dead, 342 injured and 1,400 buildings had been burned down. These riots were between the Detroit Police and the African-American citizens of the neighborhood called Virginia Park. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights leader and American Clergyman. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. King had led the Civil Rights Movement since the mid-1950's -
Robert Kennedy Assassinated
Robert Kennedy had just won California Presidential Primaries before he was mortally injured. He was a 42-year-old who was running for President. He was shot many times by a Palestinian named Sirhan Sirhan.
