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Emancipation Proclamation
Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln freed slaves in the Confederacy. -
Black Voting Rights
The 15th Amendment granted blacks the right to vote, including former slaves. -
Jim Crow Laws
The U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the racist policy of segregation by legalizing “separate but equal” facilities for blacks and whites. -
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded by a multi-racial group of activists in New York, N.Y. Initially, the group called themselves the National Negro Committee. Founders Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villiard and William English Walling led the call to renew the struggle for civil and political liberty. -
Executive Order 9981
President Harry Truman executes Executive Order 9981 to end segregation in the Armed Services. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimous decision that overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine in public schools. -
Emmett Till Muder
Emmett Till was murdered in Money, Mississippi. -
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. -
Atlanta, Georgia: Nonviolent Protest Meeting
Sixty black pastors and civil rights leaders from several southern states meet in Atlanta, Georgia to coordinate nonviolent protests. -
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock 9 enter Central High School as federal troops oversee the situation sent by President Eisenhower. -
Woolworth Lunch Counter
4 black college students sat at an all-white lunch counter and started a sit-in protest at a Woolworth’s store. -
Freedom Rides
Freedom riders begin a bus ride through the South to protest segregation. -
James Meredith
James Meredith became the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. President Kennedy sent 5,000 federal troops to contain the violence and riots surrounding the incident. -
MLK Arrested
Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham protesting in the “most segregated city in America.” -
Governor George Wallace Standoff
Governor George C. Wallace stands in a doorway at the University of Alabama to block two black students from registering. The standoff continues until President John F. Kennedy sends the National Guard to the campus. -
March on Washington
More than 250,000 people, march on Washington to demand immediate passage of the civil rights bill. -
Birmingham Bombing
A bomb at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama kills four young girls and injures several other people prior to Sunday services. The bombing fuels angry protests. -
Poll Tax Demolished
The 24th Amendment abolished the poll tax, which had originally been instituted in 11 southern states. The poll tax made it difficult for blacks to vote. -
LBJ Civil Rights Act
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the premier legislation for Civil Rights into law. -
Malcolm X Killed
Black religious leader Malcolm X is assassinated during a rally by members of the Nation of Islam. -
Selma March
A march from Selma to Montgomery to fight for voting rights begins. -
Voting Rights Act
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law outlawing literacy tests. -
Black Panthers
Huey Newton & Bobby Seale founded the “Black Power” political group known as the Black Panthers. -
MLK Killed
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis.
