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Emmett Till
A 14 year old African American boy was lynched after attempting to flirt with a white woman. He was beaten, mutilated and shot before being dumped into the Tallahatchie River. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks in December, 1955, the boycott was a 13-month mass protest that ended with the US Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional. -
Little Rock 9
A group of 9 African American students that enrolled in a previously all white school, after President Eisenhower intervened. It was part of a plan to desegregate schools by Virgil Blossom. -
SNCC and Sit-Ins
It began as a student meeting organized by Ella Baker. It eventually grew into a big organization with many Northern supporters. They were primarily just a group of students who openly protested against segregation. -
Freedom Riders
These were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States, in order to challenge the non-enforcement of the decision that ruled that segregated public buses are unconstitutional. -
James Meredith
James Meredith is a Civil Rights Movement figure. In 1962, he became the first African-American student admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi. -
Project C and Children's March
In 1963, activists launched one of the most influential campaigns called Project C. It was the beginning of a series of lunch counter sit-ins, marches on City Hall and boycotts on downtown merchants to protest segregation laws in the city. -
Letters From a Birmingham Jail
A letter from Martin Luther King Jr. that addressed to his fellow clergymen after his nonviolent protest against racial segregations. He upheld that general use of nonviolent civil disobedience against unjust laws. -
March on Washington
Around 200,000 Americans gathered in Washington DC for a political rally. Organized by civil rights activists, the event was designed to shed some light on political and social challenges African Americans continued to face in the country. -
Freedom Summer
In 1964, civil rights organizations organized a voter registration drive, known as the Mississippi Summer Project. Its objective was to increase voter registration in Mississippi. -
Malcolm X
Malcolm was a human rights activist, and a courageous advocate for the right of blacks. He promoted black supremacy, advocated the separation of black and white Americans and rejected the civil rights movement for their emphasis on integration. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public. -
Selma to Montgomery March
During March 1965, protesters attempted to march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery, and were met with violent resistance by state and local authorities. As the world watched, they finally achieved their goal, after walking three straight days. -
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits racial discrimination in voting. Signed by Lyndon B Johnson, it was later amended by Congress to expand its protections.
