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Plessy v Ferguson Ruling
Plessy v Ferguson was an infamous court ruling prompted by an African-American man named Homer Plessy who refused to sit in a colored train car (breaking a Louisiana law). The Supreme Court rejected Plessy’s argument that his constitutional rights were violated and ruled that the 14th Amendment was upheld with the loophole that inspired the Jim Crow Laws--that as long as facilities were "separate but equal," segregation was constitutional. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Brown vs. Board of Education was a "landmark United States Supreme Court case" that declared laws segregating schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. The primary piece of evidence used to prove that separating colored kids from white kids was inherently not equal, was "The Doll Test." Colored children had to decide whether a brown or white doll would be more successful, superior, etc. Most answered in favor of the white doll: proof of the negative effects of segregation. -
Rosa Parks Refuses to Give Up Seat on Bus
On this day, Rosa Parks, a 43 year old African American woman involved in the Civil Rights Movement, refused to let a white passenger take her seat on the bus. Parks was arrested and Civil Rights leaders such as Martin Luther King used this to spark the Montgomery Bus Boycott. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a 381 day long protest in which the vast majority of regular African American bus riders decided to strike against segregation within public transit. As a result, all who participated had to find alternate transportation including carpooling, hitchhiking, walking, and biking instead of taking the city's bus. Most stayed strong and waited out the full 13 months that it took for legislation to change before they started riding the buses again. -
National guard prevents Little Rock 9 from entering high school building
This event started with nine African American students enrolling at Central High School in Little Rock, a formerly all-white school, in September 1957. Their brave actions were meant to test the Supreme Court's ruling that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional in 1954. On the first day of classes, the Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, brought in the state National Guard to prevent the black students from entering the school. -
Federal troops escort the 9 students into the school
On this day, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the “Little Rock Nine” into Central High School (although they started their first full day of classes on the 25th). The nine students were guarded as they made their way through an angry mob of about 1,000 protesters waiting outside the school. Amidst ensuing rioting, the police removed the nine students. It wasn't until two days later that the nine students were able to attend their first full day of classes. -
Sit in protest at Woolworth's Cafe
On February 1, 1960, four African American college students sat down at a lunch counter at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, and politely asked for service. Their request was refused. When asked to leave, they remained in their seats. Their passive resistance and peaceful sit-down demand helped ignite a youth-led movement to challenge racial inequality throughout the South. -
Freedom Rides
The "Freedom Rides" were a series of bus trips across the South to protest segregation in buses. Participants in these protests were recruited by the civil rights group Congress of Racial Equality. The main goal of Freedom Rides was to integrate facilities at bus terminals. Riders purposefully used “whites-only” facilities in order to show their dedication. Those who participated made themselves vulnerable to violence from white protesters, which drew international attention to the cause. -
Birmingham Protests
The Birmingham Protests were part of an organized movement on behalf of the SCLC in early 1963 designed to bring attention to the extreme racism in Birmingham, Alabama under its government at the time and publicize the authorities' racist reaction in order to force the general public to make strides towards integration in society. It was a very strategic series of demonstrations planned with complete awareness that the most extreme reactions to the protests would take place in Birmingham. -
I Have a Dream Speech
The infamous "I Have a Dream Speech" was given by Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lincoln Memorial in anticipation of the March on Washington. Within his speech advocating civil rights for all people, MLK urged America to "make real the promises of democracy." He emphasized the need for change and the outline of hope in the 1960's era, American society. -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer was a campaign to register black voters in Mississippi. On this day, a group of student civil rights activists participating in Freedom Summer (James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner) disappeared after visiting a burnt black church. The FBI found their corpses six weeks later. In addition, there were "numerous beatings, shootings, bombings" and three other activists that "suffered violent deaths." Violence was a common reaction among white protesters. -
March from Selma to Montgomery
A mass demonstration organized by the SCLC in which protesters were called for a march from Selma to Montgomery in order to "present the governor with a list of grievances." This became another infamous example of civil disobedience with a violent reaction from the authorities, complete with many of the images of police brutality that day being televised and outraging many Americans. This general public reaction helped to progress the Civil Rights Movement further towards equality. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act was passed in response to the march on Selma and served to outlaw literacy tests and other methods used to keep African Americans from voting. It also called for federal supervision for voting registration in "areas where less than half of voting-age citizens were registered to vote," as another tactic to ensure that African Americans wouldn't be denied their voting rights. -
Martin Luther King's Assassination
On this day, Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot in the neck at the age of 39 while standing on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. His assassin was a man from Alton, Illinois, named James Earl Ray, 40 years old at the time. King died that same day at St. Joseph’s Hospital. His death triggered a period of rioting in the black communities of several cities around the US. -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
This new legislation, also known as the Fair Housing Act, was enacted a week after Martin Luther King Junior's assassination. Equal housing opportunities were enforced, regardless of race, religion, or national origin. It also became a federal crime to “injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone…by reason of their race, color, religion, or national origin.” President Lyndon B. Johnson signed this act into law as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
