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KEY
Achievement (A) , Protest (P), Legislation/Supreme Court Case (L/SCC), Violence by Protesters (V by P), Violence by Opposition (V by O), or No Violence (NV). -
Emmett Till's Murder
While visiting relatives in Mississippi, Till went into a convenience store with his cousins and was accused of whistling at the cashier. The cashier's husband kidnapped and murdered Emmett Till before dumping his body. This murder brought nationwide attention to racially motivated violence and injustice. (V by O) -
Keys v. Carolina Coach
At just 22 years old, Sarah Keys Evans refused to give up her seat on a state-to-state charter bus, prompting the landmark court case, Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company. This court case allowed for the Interstate Commerce Commission to outlaw the segregation of Black passengers in buses traveling across state lines. (L/SCC)(A) -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a 13 month mass protest that resulted in the US Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional. The Montgomery Improvement Association coordinated the Boycott, and its president, Martin Luther King Jr., became a prominent civil rights leader as international attention focused on Montgomery. (A)(P)(NV) -
Creation of the Montgomery Improvement Association
The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) by black ministers and community leaders in Montgomery, Alabama. The MIA was instrumental in guiding the Montgomery bus boycott, a successful campaign that focused national attention on racial segregation in the South and catapulted Martin Luther King into the national spotlight. (NV) -
Founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is a civil rights organization founded in 1957, as an offshoot of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). The SCLC successfully staged a 381-day boycott of Montgomery Alabama's segregated bus system. (P)(NV) -
Greensboro Sit In
Four college students planned and carefully executed a protest with the help of a local businessman. The four students sat down at the lunch counter at Woolworth's in downtown Greensboro, where the official policy was to refuse service to anyone except white people. After being denied any service, the four young men refused to give up their seats. (P)(NV) -
Integration of The University of Mississippi
A federal appeals court ordered the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, an African American student. His admission was the first integration of a public educational facility in Mississippi. Upon his arrival, a mob of more than 2,000 people rioted, killing 2 people. (A)(P)(V by P) -
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The March on Washington was the largest gathering for Civil Rights of its time, with 250,000 people in attendance. The March was successful in pressuring the administration of John F. Kennedy to initiate a strong Federal Civil Rights Bill in Congress. (A)(P) -
Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a popular figure during the Civil Rights Movement. While preparing to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity in Manhattan, Malcolm X was shot multiple times and died from his wounds. (V by O) (V by P) -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King was shot dead while standing on a balcony outside his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee. News of King's assassination prompted major outbursts of racial violence, resulting in more than 40 deaths nationwide and extensive property damage in over 100 American cities. (V by O)(V by P) -
Swann vs. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Charlotte was charged with maintaining segregated public schools and defying the Supreme Court's decision to desegregate public schools with "all deliberate speed". The Supreme Court of the United States unanimously upheld busing programs that aimed to speed up the racial integration of public schools in the United States. (L/SCC)(NV) -
Shirley Chisolm’s Presidential Campaign
Chisolm was the first Black Woman elected to Congress, serving from 1968 until 1983, which included a historic bid for the highest office. She called for a "bloodless revolution" for the 1972 U.S. presidential election. Her occupation title did not bother her; she pushed for female representation at the highest level, noticing the opportunity gap that lacked diversity while promoting sameness. (A)(NV) -
Hank Aaron’s Home Run Record
History was made in Atlanta when Hank Aaron knocked his 715th ball out of the park, topping The Great Bambino, Babe Ruth. The baseball icon also spoke out against pervasive racism in major league baseball and broke racial barriers throughout his career. (A)(NV) -
Barbara Jordan’s Address at the Democratic National Convention
As Americans sensed a fracturing of American life in the 1970s, Jordan called for Americans to commit themselves to a “national community” and the “common good.” Jordan began by noting she was the first black woman to ever deliver a keynote address at a major party convention and that such a thing would have been almost impossible even a decade earlier. (NV) -
University of California Regents vs. Bakke
This was a Supreme Court case which held that a university's admissions criteria which used race as a definite and exclusive basis for an admission decision violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.The Court came to a mixed decision on the issue of racial preferences in university admissions, laying the groundwork for educational standards that still exist today. (L/SCC)(NV)