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The Supreme Court Decision of Plessy v. Ferguson
upheld the constitutionality of state-sponsored racial segregation, establishing the "separate but equal" doctrine -
The Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American military aviators in the United States, known for their exceptional combat record and their role in breaking down racial barriers in the military during World War II. -
The Integration of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball integration, a pivotal moment in American history, began in 1947 with Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier by playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, paving the way for African American players in the sport. -
The Integration of the Armed Forces
The integration of the U.S. Armed Forces, mandated by President Truman's Executive Order 9981 in 1948, marked a pivotal moment in American history, ending segregation in the military and paving the way for a more inclusive and equitable armed force. -
The Supreme Court Decision of Sweatt v. Painter
In Sweatt v. Painter the Supreme Court ruled that the separate but equal doctrine, established in Plessy v. Ferguson, was unconstitutional in the context of higher education, specifically, the University of Texas School of Law, and ordered the admission of Heman Sweatt, an African American applican -
The Death of Emmitt Till
he was kidnapped, beaten, shot in the head, had a large metal fan tied to his neck with barbed wire, and was thrown into the Tallahatchie River. His body was soon recovered, and an investigation was opened. -
The Supreme Court Decision of Brown v. Board of Education
In the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, the Court, in a unanimous decision, declared state-sponsored segregation in public education unconstitutional, overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson. -
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a nonviolent protest that took place from December 1955 to December 1956. It was a major event in the civil rights movement -
The Integration of little Rock High School
The desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, gained national attention on September 3, 1957, when Governor Orval Faubus mobilized the Arkansas National Guard in an effort to prevent nine African American students from integrating the high school. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957, signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 9, 1957, was the first federal civil rights legislation passed since 1875, focusing on protecting voting rights and establishing mechanisms for investigating and prosecuting voter discrimination -
The Greenboro Four Lunch Counter Sit-In
he Greensboro sit-in was a civil rights protest that started in 1960, when young African American students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and refused to leave after being denied service. -
The Freedom Rides by Freedom Riders of 1961
In 1961, the Freedom Rides, organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), saw activists, both Black and white, ride buses through the segregated South to challenge segregation in interstate bus terminals and facilities, facing violence and ultimately forcing federal intervention. -
The Twenty-Fourth Amendment
The 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1964, abolishes the poll tax as a requirement for voting in federal elections, ensuring that citizens cannot be denied the right to vote due to failure to pay a tax. -
The Integration Of the University of Mississippi
The integration of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in 1962, led by James Meredith, was a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement, marked by a riot on campus and the eventual enrollment of Meredith as the first Black student -
The Integration of the University of Alabama
On June 11, 1963, Vivian Malone and James Hood successfully integrated the University of Alabama, despite Governor George Wallace's attempt to block their enrollment, a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. -
The March on Washington and "I Have a Dream" Speech by MLK
On August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial, calling for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States -
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas
As the vehicle entered Dealey Plaza and passed the Texas School Book Depository Building, Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots from the sixth floor. Watch the video above to see the full story. On this day in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dallas, Texas -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed by President Johnson
On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, a landmark piece of legislation that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment, public accommodations, and voting. -
The Assassination of Malcolm X
US black nationalist leader Malcolm X was assassinated on 21 February 1965, at the age of 39. The BBC reported on the reaction in his adopted home of Harlem, New York, as thousands of people queued to pay their last respects. -
The Selma to Montgomery March: "Bloody Sunday"
On March 7, 1965, "Bloody Sunday" saw civil rights activists brutally attacked by state troopers and police while marching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in a pivotal moment of the Civil Rights Movement, galvanizing public support for voting rights and leading to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
When Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it determined that racial discrimination in voting had been more prevalent in certain areas of the country. Section 4(a) of the Act established a formula to identify those areas and to provide for more stringent remedies where appropriate. -
The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee
At 6:05 P.M. on Thursday, 4 April 1968, Martin Luther King was shot dead while standing on a balcony outside his second-floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. News of King's assassination prompted major outbreaks of racial violence, resulting in more than 40 deaths nationwide -
The Voting Rights Act of 1968
The Voting Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Fair Housing Act, prohibited discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, and later expanded to include familial status and disability.