-
Thurgood Marshall Named Supreme Court Justice
On July 2nd, 1908, Thurgood Marshall was the Court's 96th justice and its first African American justice. -
Brown v Board of Education of Topeka
A landmark Supreme Court case in which the justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. Set the precedent that "separate-but-equal" education and other services were not, in fact, equal at all -
Little Rock 9
A group of nine black students who enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1954. -
Ruby Bridges attends school in New Orleans
Ruby Bridges was the first African-American child to desegregate the all-white William Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation in 1960. -
Emmett Till Lynched
Emmett Till was 14 years-old and was brutally murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman four days earlier. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
A civil-rights protest during which African Americans refuse to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating. -
Greensboro Sit-In Movement
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 sit-in's lasted from February 1st,1960 - July 25th, 1960 and made an immediate and lasting impact. -
Freedom Riders
Groups of white and African American civil rights activists who participated in Freedom Rides, bus trips through the American South in 1961 to protest segregated bus terminals. They tried to use "whites-only' restrooms and lunch counters at bus stations in Alabama, South Carolina and other Southern states. -
James Meredith Enrolls at University of Mississippi
On October 1, 1962, Meredith became the first African-American student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. -
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Written by Martin Luther Jr. while in Birmingham City Jail which defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism. -
University of Alabama Desegregated
Facing federalized Alabama National Guard troops, Alabama Governor George Wallace ends his blockade of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and allows two African American students to enroll. -
Medgar Evers Assassinated
On June 12th, 1963, Medgar Evers was assassinated. After a funeral in Jackson, he was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. -
March on Washington (MLK)
A massive protest march when some 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. This event aimed to draw attention to continuing challenges and inequalities faced by African Americans a century after emancipation. Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream" was delivered on this day. -
Birmingham Church Bombing
A bomb exploded before Sunday morning services at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Four young girls were killed and many other people injured. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment is the right of citizens to vote in all types of elections and shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax. -
Freedom Summer Project
Also known as the Mississippi Summer Project, the Freedom Summer was a 1964 voter registration drive sponsored by civil rights organizations including the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The project aimed to increase black voter registration in Mississippi. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
A landmark civil rights and US labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
Martin Luther King wins Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to MLK at 35 years-old making him the youngest winner -
March on Selma
The March on Selma was part of a series of civil-rights protests that occurred in 1965 in Alabama. This historic march, with Martin Luther King Jr's participation, raised awareness of the difficulties faced by black voters, and the need for a national Voting Rights Act. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. -
Watts Riot
In the predominantly black Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, racial tension reaches a breaking point after two white policemen scuffle with a black motorist suspected of drunk driving, A crowd gathered near the corner of Avalon Boulevard and 116th Street and grew angry at the arrest that was believed to be racially motivated. A riot soon that included looting stores, torching buildings, and beating whites as snipers fired at police and firefighters. Finally order was restored on August 16th. -
Martin Luther King Assassinated
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4th, 1968, an event that sent shock wave reverberating around the world.
