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Plessy vs Ferguson
Enacted a law that required separate railway cars for blacks and whites. Homer Plessy, who had been 7/8 Caucasian, took a seat in a "whites only" car of a train. He refused to move to the car reserved for the blacks and was arrested. -
Formation of NAACP
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Nation's oldest, largest, and most widely recognized civil rights organization. More than 500,000 members and supporters in the United States. -
Brown v BOE of Topeka
Brown v Board of Education. Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation of the public transit system in Montgomery, Alabama. -
Formation of SCLC
Southern Christian Leadership Conference is a non-profit African American civil rights organization. Very closely associated with their first president, Martin Luther King Jr. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was primarily a voting rights bill. It was the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. -
Integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas
Nine black students enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansa, which tested the Brown v BOE case. Dwight Eisenhower sent in troops to escort these students to their classes on the first day. -
Malcolm X leads the Nation of Islam
Malcolm X was a prominent leader in the black community and later around the nation. He spoke out about civil rights. He was known for his bravery and passion. He gets prison time and learns about the Nation of Islam while serving his time. He eventually becomes a representative of the Nation of Islam and spreads the ideals. -
Formation of SNCC
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was one of the most significant organizations of the Civil Rights Movement. It was created for anti-racism, participative democracy, and pacifism. -
Greensboro Sit-In
Series of non-violent protests in Greensboro. North Carolina. Led to the Woolworth department store chain removing its policy of racial segregation in the southern United States. -
Boynton v Virginia
The case overturned a judgment convicting an African American law student for trespassing by being in a restaurant in a bus terminal which was "whites only". -
First Freedom Ride
Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States. Challenged the cases of Boynton v Virginia and Morgan v Virginia. -
James Meredith enrolls in Ole Miss
African American man James Merideth attempted to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Chaos briefly broke out at the campus. There were riots that ended in two deaths, hundreds wounded, and many other arrested. -
Birmingham Protests
Movement organized in early 1963 by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in order to bring integration efforts of African Americans in Alabama. -
March on Washington
Held in DC. More than 200,000 Americans gathered for a political rally for jobs and freedom. -
24th Amendment Passed
Not long ago, citizens in some states had to pay a fee to vote in a national election. This fee was called a poll tax. After the 24th amendment was passed, there was a prohibition on any poll tax in elections for federal officials. -
Freedom Summer
Volunteer campaign in the United States launched in June of 1964 to attempt to register as many African American voters as possible in Mississippi. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Outlaws discrimination of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It is a landmark civil rights and US labor law. -
Malcolm X assassinated
Malcolm X was shot before he was about to deliver a speech about his new organization called the Organization of Afro-American Unity. He will forever be remembered for his bravery and passion. -
Selma March
A series of peaceful protest marches along a 54-mile highway for voting rights. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Prohibition of racial discrimination in voting. Signed by president Lyndon B. Johnson. This included literacy tests which were used in the south after the Civil War had ended. -
Black Panthers founded
The Black Panther Party, aka BPP, was a revolutionary black nationalist and socialist organization active in the United States until 1982. -
MLK Jr. assassinated
MLK Jr. was an American clergyman and civil rights leader most known for his speech "I have a Dream". He was fatally shot in Memphis, Tennessee. -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
Also known as the Fair Housing Act. Provided equal opportunities regardless of race, religion, or national origin. -
Robert F. Kennedy assassinated
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was fatally shot in Los Angeles shortly after winning the California presidential primaries in the 1968 election. He died the next day while hospitalized.
