Civil Rights Movement

Brown v. Borad of Education

May 17, 1954

In the Brown v. Board of Education case, blacks were now granted the right to share facilities with whites. The Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896 made blacks and whites be separated in public facilities. The result of the Brown v. Board case was both blacks and whites shared the same public buildings.

George Lee

May 7, 1955

George Lee gets killed for leading voter-registration drive in Baizoni, Mississippi

Lamar Smith

Aug 13, 1955

Lamar Smith was murdered for organizing black voters in Brookhaven Mississippi.

Emmett Louis Till

Aug 28, 1955

Emett Louis Till was murdered for speaking to a white women in Money Mississippi.

John Earl Reese

Oct 22, 1955

Slain by neighbors opposed to school improvements in Mayflower, Texas.

Rosa Parks Bus Boycott

Dec 1, 1955

On December first, 1955, a black women named Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat after being yelled and hollored at by a white. As a result, she got arrested for sticking up for her moral rights.

Bus Boycott

Dec 5, 1955

Montgomery bus boycott begins in Montgomery Alabama.

Supreme court

Nov 13, 1956

Supreme court bans segregated seating on Montgomery buses.

Willie Edwards Jr.

Jan 23, 1957

Willie Edwards Jr. was killed by Klansmen (K.K.K.) in Montgomer Alabama.

Civil Rights act of 1957

Aug 29, 1957

The civil rights act-enacted by Eisenhower, during his presidency-began a new era in the civil rights movement. This act started the Civil Rights section of the justice department, and also allowed blacks to vote.

Little Rock, Arkansas

Sep 24, 1957

In Little Rock, Arkansas, nine African American high schoolers started attending a previously "white only" school. These kids were met with racial epithets and even lynch threatonings by the other classmates. The federal government ordared troops to protect and keep peace at the school.

Mack Charles Parker

Apr 25, 1959

Taken from jail and lynched by mobsters. In Poplarville Mississippi.

Black Students

Feb 1, 1960

Black students stage a sit-it at a "whites only" counter in Greensbero, North Carolina.

Supreme court again

Dec 5, 1960

The Supreme Court outlaws segregation in bus terminals.

Freedom Riders

May 14, 1961

Freedom Riders were mostly African Americans who sat in previously "white" bus seats to test the outcome of the Boynton v. Virginia court case which ruled segregated busses unconstitutional. The people who helped organize these riders were part of an organization called CORE. The Congress of Raciel Equality recruited riders to go on freedom rides. While mostly black, there were also whites who helped the cause.

Herbert Lee

Sep 25, 1961

Herbert Lee-a voter registration worker-was killed by a white legislatorin Liberty, Mississippi.

Civil rights groups

Apr 1, 1962

Civil rights groups join forces to launch a voter registration drive.

CPL. Roman Ducksworth Jr.

Apr 9, 1962

Roman Ducksworth Jr. was taken and killed by the police in Tayforsville, Mississippi.

James Meredith

Sep 30, 1962

Riots erupt when a black man, James Meredith enrolls at Ole Miss. Kennedy eventually called in thousand of troops to subdue the enraged crowd.

Paul Guihard

Sep 30, 1962

French reporter killed during the James Meredith/Ole Miss riot. Oxford Mississippi

William Lewis Moore

Apr 23, 1963

Slain during one-man march against segregation. Attalla AL

Children

May 3, 1963

Birmingham police attack marching children with dogs and fire hoses. Birmingham AL

George Wallace

Jun 11, 1963

Alabama governor, George Wallace stands in a schoolhouse's door to stop university integration.

Medgar Evers

Jun 12, 1963

Medgar Evers was a civil rights leader who was assassinated in Jackson Mississippi. Leading up to the assassination, Evers had recieved many death threats, and was even attempts on his life were made. including a molotov cocktail being thrown into his house.

March on Washington

Aug 28, 1963

The purpose on the March on Washington was to pressure the administration of John F. Kennedy to initiate a strong federal civil rights bill in Congress. During this march, Martin Luther King Jr. announced his "I Have a Dream" speech.

School Bombing

Sep 15, 1963

Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley were all schoolgirls that parished in the bombing of the Sixteen Street Baptist Church. Birmingham AL

Virgil Lamar Ware

Sep 15, 1963

Youth killed during a wave of racist violence in Birmingham Alabama.

Poll Tax

Jan 23, 1964

Poll tax outlawed in federal elections.

Louis Allen

Jan 31, 1964

Witness to murder of civil rights worker assassination. Liberty Mississippi.

The Rev. Bruce Klunder

Apr 7, 1964

Killed protesting construction of segregated school in Cleveland Ohio.

Henry Hezekiah Dee & Charles Eddie Moore

May 2, 1964

Killed by Klansman (K.K.K.) Meadville Mississippi

Freedom Summer

Jun 20, 1964

Freedom Summer brings 1,000 young civil rights voulenteers to Mississippi.

James Chaney Andrew Goodman Michael Schwerner

Jun 21, 1964

Civil rights activists who were abducted and slain by Klansmen. Philidelphia Mississippi

Civil Rights Act

Jul 2, 1964

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law outlawed discrimination because on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.

LT. COL. Lemuel Penn

Jul 11, 1964

Killed by Klansmen while driving north. Colbert Georgia.

Jimmie Lee Jackson

Feb 26, 1965

Civil rights marcher killed by trooper. Marion Alabama

Edmund Pettus Bridge

Mar 7, 1965

State troopers beat back marchers at Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma Alabama.

James Reeb

Mar 11, 1965

March voulenteer beaton to death in Selma, Alabama.

Selma Voting Rights March

Mar 25, 1965

The march of Selma was organized because the goal for the African American marchers was to register voting rights in the south. During the march, the marchers were violently opposed by police, and raciests. The outcome of this march was African Americans were now given voting rights.

Viola Gregg Liuzzo

Mar 25, 1965

Killed by Klansmen while transporting marchers in Varnado Louisiana.

Oneal Moore

Jun 2, 1965

African American killed by nightriders in Varnado, Louisiana.

Voting Rights Act

Jul 9, 1965

Congress passes the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Willie Brewster

Jul 18, 1965

Killed by nighriders in Alabama.

Jonathan Daniels

Aug 20, 1965

Seminary student killed by deputy in Hayneville, Alabama.

Samuel Young Jr.

Jan 3, 1966

Student civil rights activist killed in dispute in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Vernan Dahmer

Jan 10, 1966

Black community leader killed in Klan bombing in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Ben Chester White

Jun 10, 1966

Killed by Klansmen in Natchez, Mississippi.

Clarence Triggs

Jul 30, 1966

Slain by nightriders in Begalusa, Louisiana.

Wharlest Jackson

Feb 27, 1967

Civil rights leader killed after getting a promotion in a "white" person's job in Natchez, Mississippi.

Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination

Apr 4, 1967

During the assassination, Martin Luther King Jr. was giving an inspiring "far well" speech as if he'd known what was about to befall him. His assassination impacted the lives of millions of americans. It impacted both whites and blacks because he was such a huge role and influence during the civil rights movement.

Benjamin Brown

May 12, 1967

Civil rights worker killed by police when they fired on protesters in Jackson, Mississippi.

Thurgood Marshall

Oct 2, 1967

Before becoming a supreme court justice, Thurgood Marshall was a very successful lawyer. I believe this was a onumental event because African Americans now had a set position in the American government.

Samuel Hammond Jr., Delano Middleton, and Henery Smith

Feb 8, 1968

Students killed when highway patrolmen fired on protesters in Orangeburg, South Carolina.