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Plessy v. Ferguson
The landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896. It upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality - a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal". -
The Integration of Major League Baseball
This is the debut day of Jackie Robinson into Major League Baseball in 1947 that integrates baseball and broke a sixty year ban against African American baseball players. -
The Integration of the Armed Forces
Executive Order 9981, the executive order issued on July 26, 1948, by United States President Harry S. Truman that abolished racial segregation in the U.S. military. Beginning with the initial skirmishes of the American Revolution, African Americans had played an important role in the armed forces of the United States. -
Sweatt v. Painter
The NAACP won a case involving the right of Herman Sweatt, an African American, to attend the Law School at the University of Texas in Austin. Texas argued that its constitution prohibited integrated education and created a separate law school for African Americans just to keep Sweatt out. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that this separate school failed to qualify as "separate but equal". -
Brown v. Board of Education
This landmark decision of the US Supreme Court to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson which marked the end of legal segregation in public schools. It was a key turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. -
The Bus Boycott of Montgomery, Alabama
December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger and was arrested. Shocked by her arrest, the Montgomery bus boycott was a 13-month mass protest that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional. The bus boycott demonstrated the potential for nonviolent mass protest to successfully challenge racial segregation and served as an example for other southern campaigns that followed. -
The Integration of Little Rock High School
Most Southern States delayed putting the Brown Decision into effect. Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas favored segregation and orders the Arkansas National Guard to surround the all-white Little Rock High School to prevent nine African-American students from entering the school. The nine students became known as the "Little Rock Nine". Governor Faubus refused protection to the nine students who were being threatened by angry mobs. Federal troops were sent to ensure they attended school. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1957
In 1957, Eisenhower passed the Civil Rights Act to increase African American voting in the south. Was the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction and created the Civil Rights Commission and established a Civil Rights Divison in the U.S. Justice Department. -
The Freedon Rides of 1960
In 1961, inter-racial groups ride buses in Freedom Rides in the South. The Freedom Riders sought to overturn racial segregation on public transportation. Created confrontations so that the federal government would be forced to intervene. They faced the risk of violence and death for those who opposed integration. -
The Greensboro Four
In 1960, African-American students held a sit-in at a "whites only" lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. They were soon called the "Greensboro Four" and soon their tactics were copied by other students throughout the South. As a result of these protests, downtown stores finally agreed to desegregate lunch counters and hire African-American Workers. -
The Twenty-Fourth Amendment
Was an Anti-Poll Tax Amendment. It eliminated any poll taxes in federal elections -
The Integration 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 Integration of the University of Alabama
In 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace received national attention when he stood at the door of the University of Alabama. He did so in a symbolic attempt to prevent two African-American students from enrolling at that school. He cited his constitutional rights of states to operate their public schools but was forced to step down. -
The March on Washington
In August 1963, Dr. King and other Civil Rights leaders organized a march on Washington to pressure Congress to pass a new Civil Rights bill then before Congress. A quarter million (250,000) people joined the march. It was the largest demonstration for human rights in American history. It ended with a meeting between Dr. King, other leaders of the march, and President John F. Kennedy at the White House. -
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Only a few months after the Washington March, President Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, is considered one of the crowning legislative achievements of the civil rights movement. -
The Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X, a black leading Muslim minister, assassinated by rival Black Muslims in 1965. -
The March on Selma, Alabama
In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr., went to Selma, Alabama, to organize a march demanding the vote of African-Americans. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the act that ended poll taxes and suspended literacy tests where they were used to prevent African-Americans from voting. This guaranteed the rights promised under the fifteenth amendment and was led to a substantial increase in the number of African-American voters. -
The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
In April 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated by a white supremacist at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. King’s assassination led to an outpouring of anger among young African Americans, as well as a period of national mourning. It sparked race riots across the nation that cost dozens of lives, destroyed property, and led to hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.
