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Brown v. Board of Education
Plessy v. Fergsuson was the court case that allowed separate but equal facilities. A mob formed in Topeka Kansas trying to block an African American girl from entering school to get an education, starting the Brown v. Board case. As a result, schools became desegregated. -
George W. Lee
In Belzoni, Mississippi, George W. Lee was a supporter of Civil Rights, specifically, the right to vote. He was killed by what was said to be a car accident, but later it was discovered that his death was most likely the result of a Klan killing. He was the vice president of the regional council of negro leadership and the head of the NAACP in Belzoni, Mississippi. -
John Earl Reese
John Earl Reese was murdered at age 16 in Mayflower, Texas. He was shot and killed in a cafeteria because some whites were not supportive of the segregation of schools. This caused many outbreaks and riots. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks refused to move her seat on a segregated bus. As a result, Rosa Parks got arrested but was well known for standing up and having a voice. This led to the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
President Dwight D. Eisenhower passed this law.
It was the first civil rights legislation passed by Congress in the United States since the 1866 and 1875 Acts. It established the civil rights division in the justice department, and gave federal officials the ability to prosecute anyone who tried to deny this right to others. -
Events at Little Rock, Arkansas
In Little Rock, Arkansas, nine African Americans became the first to desegregate a public school.
President Kennedy sent troops to help the students enter the school, since there was a mob trying to prevent the students from entering the building. -
Staged Sit-In
In Greensboro, North Carolina, four African American students from the Agricultural and Technical College staged a sit-in at an all white diner as a form of non-violent protest to change segregation policies in restaurants. Calling themselves the Greensboro four, they sparked sit-in movements all over the region. -
Attack of the Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders traveled in segregated buses, sitting where they wanted in order to make a statement. Many got arrested, beaten, and killed. Some organizations that helped organize the Freedom Riders were the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Freedom riders were not always African American, there were whites that joined in as well. -
James Meredith enrolls at Ole Miss
In Oxford Mississippi, a mob of more than 2,000 students and others formed to block Meredith's way from getting into Ole Miss University. President Kennedy sent in troops and the national guard to protect Meredith and to stop the violence. -
Medgar Evers Assassinated
Medgar Evers worked for voting rights along with social justice. He was a large supporter of desegregation. He was killed by a member of the White Citizen's Council, a group formed in 1954 to resist integration of schools and civil rights activity. -
The March on Washington
The March on Washington was one of the largest political rallies for human rights in U.S. history. It was a fight for political and economic rights for African Americans. The "I had a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King Jr. was spoken on this day. -
Virgil Lamar Ware
In Birmingham, Alabama a boy named Virgil Lamar Ware was gunned down in the aftermath of the Birmingham church bombing. Larry Joe Sims was the 16 year old boy who shot Virgil on his way home from shopping. Virgil was shot once in the chest and once in the cheek. Sims was charged with first degree murder and convicted by an all white jury of second degree manslaughter. He was put on two years of probation. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Congress passed this law, signed by President Johnson. This law banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
March to Selma
The purpose of the March to Selma was to gain voting rights for African Americans. State troopers blocked this road trying to end the March, which eventually led to violence. In the end, the Voting Rights Act was passed, which provided the right to vote to all African Americans. -
Ben Chester White
In Natchez, Mississippi, Ben Chester White was killed by Klansmen in order to lure MLK Jr. to kill him. One of the Klansmen, Ernest Avants, was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to life in prison. The other two were able to escape conviction. -
Thurgood Marshall - First Black Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall began his career as a lawyer who not only was responsible for arguing the case in Brown v. Board of Education, which desegregated public schools, as well as for his successes with the Supreme Court. He also was a civil rights advocate. This was monumental because he was the first African American member of the U.S. Supreme Court. -
The Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King
James Earl Ray assassinated MLK Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee at the Lorraine Hotel. His assassination led to anger among black and whites as he was a leader of the civil rights movement, and encouraged them to make changes in a non-violent manner.
