Civil Rights Pictorial Timeline

By 162026
  • 13th Amendment (African Americans)

    13th Amendment (African Americans)
    Abolishes slavery
  • 14th Amendment (African Americans)

    14th Amendment (African Americans)
    Rights of citizenship, due process of law, and equal protection of the
    law
  • 15th Amendment (African Americans)

    15th Amendment (African Americans)
    Right to vote should not be denied on account of race or color
    (African American males right to vote)
  • Tuskegee Institute created (African Americans)

    Tuskegee Institute created (African Americans)
    Founded by Booker T. Washington, “established a normal school for colored teachers”. Provided students with academic and vocational training.
  • Plessy v. Ferguson (African Americans)

    Plessy v. Ferguson (African Americans)
    Establishes “Separate but equal”
  • NAACP created (African Americans)

    NAACP created (African Americans)
    Key founder: W.E.B. Du Bois. National Association for the
    Advancement of Colored People. Civil Rights organization to help
    fight for African American rights.
  • 19th Amendment (Women)

    19th Amendment (Women)
    Right to vote should not be denied on the account of sex (Women
    get the right to vote)
  • Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) proposed (Women)

    Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) proposed (Women)
    Proposed by the National Women's political party, it was to provide for the legal equality of the sexes and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex. Defeated in 1972.
  • Executive Order 9981 (African Americans)

    Executive Order 9981 (African Americans)
    President Truman abolished discrimination "on the basis of race,
    color, religion or national origin" in the military (integrated units)
  • Brown v. Board of Education (African Americans)

    Brown v. Board of Education (African Americans)
    Integrated public schools. Overturns Plessy v. Ferguson.
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    Montgomery Bus Boycott (African Americans)

    Civil Rights protest in which African Americans refused to ride city
    buses protesting segregated seating. Key person: Rosa Parks
  • Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) formed (African Americans)

    Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) formed (African Americans)
    Advance civil rights in a non-violent manner. Key member: MLK
  • Little Rock 9 (African Americans)

    Little Rock 9 (African Americans)
    Governor Orval Faubus prevented 9 African American students
    from entering the high school. President Eisenhower uses National Guard to protect students entry into the school.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1957 (African Americans)

    Civil Rights Act of 1957 (African Americans)
    President Eisenhower established the Civil Rights Section of the
    Justice Department and empowered federal prosecutors to obtain
    court injunctions against interference with the right to vote
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    Chicano Movement (Mural Movement) (Chicanos)

    Mexican-American civil rights movement. Artists began using the
    walls of city buildings, housing projects, schools, and churches to
    depict Mexican-American culture.
  • Greensboro, NC Sit-ins (African Americans)

    Greensboro, NC Sit-ins (African Americans)
    Four African American students sat at a whites only lunch counter
    and refused to leave after being denied service. Protesting racial
    segregation.
  • Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) formed (African Americans)

    Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) formed (African Americans)
    Student political organization civil rights movement group. Used
    nonviolent tactics.
  • Freedom Riders (African Americans)

    Freedom Riders (African Americans)
    Civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated
    southern U.S. Challenged and protested local laws that ignored
    integration.
  • Cesar Chavez (Chicanos)

    Cesar Chavez (Chicanos)
    in 1962 co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (later
    called the United Farm Workers Union). Was a Latino American
    civil rights activists.
  • Dr. King’s: “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (African Americans)

    Dr. King’s: “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (African Americans)
    He defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism
  • March on Washington: “I have a dream" speech (African Americans)

    March on Washington: “I have a dream" speech (African Americans)
    He called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the
    U.S.
  • 24th Amendment (African Americans)

    24th Amendment (African Americans)
    Prohibits the poll tax in elections
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964 (African Americans)

    Civil Rights Act of 1964 (African Americans)
    LBJ outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or
    national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration
    requirements, and racial segregation in schools, employment, and
    public accommodations.
  • March from Selma, Alabama (African Americans)

    March from Selma, Alabama (African Americans)
    MLK led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators to Montgomery,
    Alabama where local African Americans had been campaigning for voting rights.
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965 (African Americans)

    Voting Rights Act of 1965 (African Americans)
    LBJ outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many
    southern states after the Civil War
  • Black Panthers (African Americans)

    Black Panthers (African Americans)
    Political organization founded to challenge police brutality against
    the African American community.
  • Thurgood Marshall appointed to the Supreme Court (African Americans)

    Thurgood Marshall appointed to the Supreme Court (African Americans)
    Lawyer for the NAACP that argued for Brown v. Board of Ed.
    Appointed by LBJ. First African American to serve on the Supreme
    Court.
  • MLK assassinated (African Americans)

    MLK assassinated (African Americans)
    James Earl Ray assassinated Dr. King in Memphis, TN outside his
    hotel room.
  • American Indian Movement (AIM) (Native Americans)

    American Indian Movement (AIM) (Native Americans)
    Initially formed to address Native American affirmation, treaty
    issues, spirituality, and leadership while also addressing incidents of police harassment and racism against Natives. Their paramount objective is to create "real economic independence for the Indians”.
  • Sandra Day O’Connor appointed to the Supreme Court (Women)

    Sandra Day O’Connor appointed to the Supreme Court (Women)
    Appointed by Reagan. First female to serve on the court.
  • Sonia Sotomayor appointed to the Supreme Court (Chicanos)

    Sonia Sotomayor appointed to the Supreme Court (Chicanos)
    Appointed by Obama. First Hispanic and Latina to serve on the
    court.