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Voting Rights Act
The U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the racist policy of segregation by legalizing “separate but equal” facilities for blacks and whites. -
World War and Civil Rights
It opened national defense jobs and other government jobs to all Americans regardless of race, creed, color or national origin. -
Jim Crow Laws
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law outlawing literacy tests. -
March on Washington
More than 250,000 people, march on Washington to demand immediate passage of the civil rights bill. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery City Bus and was arrested. -
Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott begins. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The first major civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. It allowed federal prosecution of anyone who tried to prevent someone from voting. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock 9 enter Central High School as federal troops oversee the situation sent by President Eisenhower. -
Woolworth's Store
4 black college students sat at an all-white lunch counter and started a sit-in protest at a Woolworth’s store. -
Georgia Tech Integration
To avoid the civil unrest that attended the University of Georgia's court-ordered desegregation, officials at Georgia Tech began plotting an integration strategy. -
Freedom Riders
Freedom riders begin a bus ride through the South to protest segregation. -
Albany Movement
Residents of Albany, Georgia, launched an ambitious campaign to eliminate segregation in all facets of local life. -
Ole Miss Integration
Riots erupted on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford where locals, students, and committed segregationists had gathered to protest the enrollment of James Meredith. -
Arrest of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham protesting in the “most segregated city in America.” -
Emmett Till
Emmett Till was murdered in Money, Mississippi. -
Mississippi Freedom Summer
The voter registration drive sponsored by civil rights organizations including the Congress on Racial Equality. -
Battle for Civil Rights
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the premier legislation for Civil Rights into law -
Malcolm X Assassination
former Nation of Islam leader and Organization of Afro-American Unity founder Malcolm X was assassinated at a rally -
Selma
A march from Selma to Montgomery to fight for voting rights begins. -
Brown V. Board of Education
The U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the racist policy of segregation by legalizing “separate but equal” facilities for blacks and whites. -
Watts Rebellion
The Watts Riots lasted for six days, resulting in 34 deaths, 1,032 injuries and 4,000 arrests, involving 34,000 people and ending in the destruction of 1,000 buildings, totaling $40 million in damages. -
Blank Panthers
Huey Newton & Bobby Seale founded the “Black Power” political group known as the Black Panthers. -
Loving V. Virginia
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously (9–0) struck down state anti-miscegenation statutes in Virginia as unconstitutional under the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis. -
Fair Housing Act of 1968
It prevented housing discrimination based on race, sex, national origin and religion. It was also the last legislation enacted during the civil rights era.
