-
Excecutive Order 9981
Truman signs Executive Order 9981, which states, "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." -
Brown v. Board of Education
unanimously agreeing that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. The ruling paves the way for large-scale desegregation. The decision overturns the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that sanctioned "separate but equal" segregation of the races, ruling that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." -
Rosa Parks Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat at the front of the "colored section" of a bus to a white passenger, defying a southern custom of the time. In response to her arrest the Montgomery black community launches a bus boycott, which will last for more than a year, until the buses are desegregated Dec. 21, 1956. -
Southern Christian Leadership Conference Established with Martin Luther King Junior as President
-
Woolworth Sit-in in Greensboro, NC
-
James Meredith becomes the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi
-
Martin Luther King Jr. arrested and jailed during anti-segregation rally
-
Birmindham, Alabama protests result in fire hoses used on black protesters
-
Mississippi's NAACP field secretary, 37-year-old Medgar Evers, is murdered outside his home. Byron De La Beckwith is tried twice in 1964, both trials resulting in hung juries.
-
Martin Luther King delivers "I Have A Dream" Speech
-
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964
-
Malcolm X is shot and killed
-
Congress passes the Voting Rights Act of 1965
-
LA Race Riots Begin
-
Black Panthers Founded
-
Interracial Marriage deemed constitutional. Loving v. Virginia
-
Martin Luther King Jr. shot and killed by James Earl Ray
-
Busing a reasonable means of transportation. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education,
-
, Congress passes the Civil Rights Restoration Act, which expands the reach of non-discrimination laws within private institutions receiving federal funds.