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Plessy v. Ferguson
It established the constitutionality of racial segregation and laws for public facilities as long as they were equal in quality. -
The Tuskegee Airmen
This happened from September 1, 1939 to May 8, 1945. They were the first African American pilots in the U.S military service. They proved that they could fly advanced aircraft as well as their white counterparts. -
Integration of Major League Baseball
Jim Crows policies of baseball were changed when Jackie Robinson of the Negro Leagues Kansas City Monarchs agreed to a contract that would allow Robinson to play in the major leagues -
Integration of the Armed Forces
President Truman signed an executive order that the committee would treat them equally for treatment and opportunity in the Armed Forces so they integrated the segregated military. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Justices ruled that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional and this overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson because it established "the separate but equal" doctrine -
The Death of Emmitt Till
Emmitt Till was a 14 year old boy who was murdered in a racist attack. He was accused of harassing a local white woman and this struck the civil rights movement because he was so young and was brutally beaten to death and shot. There was a book soon later written about the case. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
This was a civil rights movement to protest against segregated seating. Rosa Parks was an African American woman that was arrested and fined for refusing to give up her seat for a white man. They determined she would be an upstanding and sympathetic plaintiff in a legal challenge of the segregation ordinance. -
Integration of Little Rock High School
Governor Orval Faubus mobilized the Arkansas National Guard in an effort to prevent nine African American students from integrating the high school. It was an integral part of the fight for equal opportunity in American education -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The new act established the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department and empowered federal prosecutors to obtain court injunctions against interference with the right to vote. -
Greensboro Four Lunch Counter Sit-in
Their actions made an immediate and lasting impact, forcing Woolworth’s and other establishments to change their segregationist policies. -
Freedom Rides by Freedom Riders of 1961
The Freedom Rides, and the violent reactions they provoked, bolstered the credibility of the American Civil Rights Movement. -
Twenty-Fourth Amendment
The Voting Rights Act rendered illegal all state obstacles to black suffrage. The 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 -
Integration of the University of Mississippi
riots started on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford where 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 -
Integration of the University of Alabama
President John F. Kennedy federalized National Guard troops and deployed them to the University of Alabama to force its desegregation. The next day, Governor Wallace yielded to the federal pressure, and two African American students Vivian Malone and James A. Hood successfully enrolled. -
March on Washington & "I have a dream" Speech by MLK
MLK made a speech that called for civil and economic rights and to end racism in the United States. 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial to march for jobs and freedom. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas
This was a turning point in the movement because JFK worked so hard to try and make a change for blacks in jobs and school -
Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed by President Johnson
This legislation prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. This was very important because it was one of the biggest steps made for equality in the US -
Assassination of Malcolm X
He achieved national prominence in the Nation of Islam, a belief system that merged Islam with Black nationalism. The autobiography of Malcolm X popularized his ideas and inspired the Black Power movement. -
Selma to Montgomery March "Bloody Sunday"
600 civil rights marchers headed east out of Selma on U.S. Route 80. They only got to the Edmund Pettus Bridge six blocks away, where lawmen attacked them with billy clubs and tear gas and drove them back into Selma.They were protesting for civil rights and discrimination -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
A landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting -
Assassination of MLK in Memphis, Tennessee
His assassination led to an outpouring of anger among Black Americans, as well as a period of national mourning that helped speed the way for an equal housing bill that would be the last significant legislative achievement of the civil rights era. -
Voting Rights Act of 1968
This expanded on previous acts and prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and since 1974,
