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Brown v. Board of Education
The court case that allowed separate but equal facilities was Plessy v. Ferguson. The case was filed by the parent of Oliver Brown who was denied access to Topeka's white schools. The result of Brown v. Board of Education was that the Supreme Court ordered the states to integrate its schools. -
Emmett Louis Till Murdered for Speaking to a White Woman
Emmett Till was in country store in Money, Mississippi. There he saw a white woman in the store and on his way out said to her, "Bye, Baby". Four days later Till's body was found at the bottom of a river tied to a cotton gin fan. he was almost unrecognizeable because of how mutilated the body was. -
Rosa Parks arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat
Rosa Parks was riding on the bus when a white man ordered her to give up her seat but she refused. The result was the arrest of Rosa Parks. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott Begins
The Montgomery Bus Boycott happened in Montgomery, Alabama where African Americans refused to ride city buses in protest of the segregated seating. It is considered as the first large-scale demonstration against segregation and was influenced by Rosa Parks. -
Events at Little Rock, Arkansas
In Little Rock, Arizona, nine black students were accepted into Central High School as an effort to integrate schools. They were met with a mob of angry whites and the Arkansas National Guard, which was ordered by Governor Faubus, in order to keep them from entering the school. The government then sent 1,000 federal troops to protect the African American students through the school year. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
President Dwight D. Eisenhower passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957. This law protected the right of African Americans to vote and called for federal enforcement of the law. -
Black students Stage Sit-in at a "Whites Only" Lunch Counter
Four African American college students sat down at a "whites only" lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. The students politely asked for service, and when they were denied service they refused to leave. their passive and peaceful resistance helped spark a youth-led movement to challenge racism in the United States. -
Attack of the Freedom Riders
The Freedom Riders were teams of African Americans and Whites in the South trying to draw attention to the South's refusal to integrate bus terminals. These teams boarded several southbound interstate buses in protest. Organizations such as Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) helped organize the Freedom Rides -
James Meredith enrolls at Ole Miss
When James Meredith first tried to enroll at Ole Miss Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett personally blocked his path to the admissions office. The government responded to this by sending 500 Federal Marshalls to escort Meredith to the campus -
Medgar Evers Assassinated
Medgar Evers was a volunteer for the U.S. Army and participated in the invasion of Normandy. He joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and became a field worker for them by encouraging involvement in the civil rights movement to other African Americans. In the driveway outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi, he was shot to death by white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith. -
The March on Washington
The purpose of the March on Washington was to bring attention to the political and social challenges of African Americans in jobs and freedom. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech when everyone met in Washington. -
Poll Tax Outlawed in Federal Election
African Americans had the right to vote but many were poor and did not have enough money to vote because of poll taxes. In Washington D.C. the United States ratified the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting any poll tax in elections for federal officials. -
Louis Allen Murdered
Louis Allen was murdered on his land in Liberty, Mississippi after trying to register to vote and allegedly talking to federal officials about him witnessing the murder of Herbert Lee by a white state legislature. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Civil rights Act of 1964 which stated that segregation was illegal in all public places and also barred discrimination by employers and Labor Unions. -
March to Selma
The March to Selma was organized in an effort to register black voters in the South. However, along their route they faced dozens of white citizens who attacked and beat many of the demonstrators with weapons provided by the Dallas County Sherriff Jim Clark. The outcome of the march was the Voting Rights Act of 1965 being passed in order to protect the rights of qualified voters. -
Thurgood Marshall first black Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall worked to integrate schools and other places under Jim Crow segregation as legal counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). When Marshall became a Supreme Court Justice it was a monumental event for African Americans because he was that first to hold that position and they finally had someone on their side who they could trust. -
The Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Around 6 o'clock at night King was standing on the second floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel, where he and associates of the SCLC, were staying. While standing there on that balcony King was shot by a sniper's bullet through the neck. He was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead only an hour later, at age 39. King's death had such a big impact on both whites and African Americans because he helped both groups come together to end racial discrimination in the United States.
