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Plessey V. Ferguson
Court case in which the Supreme Court ruled that "separate out equal" facilities were constitutional -
Founding of NAACP
W.E.B. Du Bois joined Jane Addams and other reformers in forming the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Blacks and whites worked for equal rights for African Americans. -
Jackie Robinson integrates baseball
Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, wanted to break the "color line" and tap into the vast pool of talent in the negro league. He started Jackie Robinson at first base and by playing, Jackie Robinson ended racial segregation on the ball field. -
The Military integrates
Harry Truman ordered the integration of all units of the armed forces. As a result, African American and white soldiers fought side by side in the Korean War. -
Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka
Oliver Brown sued the board of education of Topeka, Kansas. Under Topeka's segregation laws, Brown's daughter Linda had to travel a great distance to a run-down school for African Americans. Brown wanted Linda to attend a school closer to her home which also had better facilitie, but the principal refused saying that the school was for whites only. This case reached the Supreme Court and ended segregation in schools. -
Murder of Emmett Till
14 year old Emmett Till was murdered for flirting with a white woman. The woman's husband and brother beat Till nearly to death, shot him in the head and threw his body in the river. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks boarded a bus and sat in the first row of "colored seats". As the bus filled up, the driver ordered her to give up her seat to a white rider but Parks refused. The driver had her arrested and as word got out, many African Americans boycotted the busses. -
Little Rock Nine
Nine African American students attended the cities Central High School as a plan to gradually desegregate the schools. -
Greensboro Sit-in
Four African American college students sat down at a whites only lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and ordered coffee. The students refused to move until they were served. -
Freedom Rides
Thirteen Freedom Riders set out on two busses for a trip through the Deep South. They successfully integrated several bus stations before being violently attacked in Alabama. -
Birmingham Children's March
Thousands of African Americans, including children, marched peacefully in Birmingham. Police used dogs, fire hoses, and electrical cattle prods against the marchers. -
March on Washington
Civil rights leaders proposed a march to focus attention on the civil rights bill. 250,000 Americans peacefully assembled to support civil rights. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Congress passed the act that banned discrimination on public facilities and outlawed discrimination in employment. It also provided for faster school desegregation and further protected voting rights. -
Malcom X Assasination
Militant leader, Malcom X rejected the goal of integration and encouraged African Americans to separate completely from white society. Before he could fully develop his new ideas, he was shot to death. -
Selma March
Hundreds of marchers set out to draw attention to the issue of voting rights. They set out from the city of Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Congress passed the act that banned literacy tests and other barriers to African American voting. -
Watts Riots
Angered by the brutality of the police, residents of Watts in Los Angeles burned cars and looted stores. More than 1,000 people were injured or killed
