-
Executive Order 9981
Executive Order 9981, signed by Truman, provided equality in opportunity and treatment for all races in the armed forces. -
Brown Vs. Board of Education
This case overturned the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, and desegregated public schools. -
Murder of Emmett Till
Emmett Till becomes a martyr for the civil rights movement because of the brutality of his murder and the circumstances of his murder. -
Rosa Parks Bus Protest
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on the bus, and so was put in jail. This sparked the bus boycotts in Montgomery and caused the desegregation of buses. -
SCLC Founded
Martin Luther King, Charles K. Steele, and Fred L. Shuttlesworth establish the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of which King is made the first president. It was a major driving force behind civil rights movements and helped keep the principle of nonviolence. -
Little Rock Nine
Nine black students attend a previously all-white school in Central High School. President Eisenhower also sent federal troops to guard the students. -
Woolworth Sit-Ins
Four black students sit in at a segregated lunch counter at Woolworth. they are refused service, but trigger protests that would result in the desegregation of lunch counters. -
SNCC Founding
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee is founded at Shaw University, giving young African Americans a place in the civil rights movement. -
Freedom Rides
Student volunteers took bus trips through the South to test out new laws that prohibit segregation in interstate travel facilities. Some groups are attacked on the way by mobs. -
James Meredith Enrolled at University of Mississippi
The first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. President Kennedy had to send 5000 federal troops to calm the riots this caused. -
“Bull” Connor uses fire hoses on black demonstrators.
The Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene "Bull" Connor, uses police dogs and fire hoses on African American demonstrators during a civil rights protest in Birmingham. This caused public sympathy for the civil rights movement. -
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King is arrested and jailed during an anti-segregation protest in Birmingham. He then writes his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" that argues that individuals have a moral duty to disobey unjust laws. -
March on Washington
200,000 people march on Washington to hear Martin Luther King deliver his "I Have a Dream" speech. -
16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
Four young girls are killed while attending Sunday School by a bomb that was planted in the 16th Street Baptist Church. This let people truly see the discrimination that African American were facing. -
24th Amendment Ratified
The 24th Amendment abolished poll taxes, which was preventing poor African Americans from voting. -
COFO Starts the Freedom Summer
The Council of Federated Organizations launches a massive effort to register African American voters. -
Murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner
The bodies of three civil-rights workers(James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner) are found in an earthen dam, six weeks into a federal investigation backed by President Johnson. They were helping register African American voters in Mississippi until they were arrested, incarcerated, and then delivered to the Ku Klux Klan. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibits discrimination of all kind. -
Malcolm X Assassinated
Malcolm X, black nationalist and founder of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, is shot to death. -
Bloody Sunday
African Americans marching on Montgomery in support of voting rights were stopped by a police blockade at Pettus Bridge. They were then brutally attacked by the police. This was the catalyst for the following civil rights act. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Congress passes the Voting Rights Act of 1965, making it easier for Southern blacks to register to vote. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and other such requirements that were used to restrict black voting are made illegal. -
Los Angeles Race Riots of 1965
Race riots erupt in a black section of Los Angeles. -
Executive Order 11246
President Johnson issues Executive Order 11246, which enforces affirmative action for the first time. -
Black Panthers Founded
The militant Black Panthers are founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. -
Loving vs. Virginia
The Supreme Court ruled that prohibiting interracial marriage is unconstitutional. Sixteen states are then forced to revise their laws banning interracial marriage. -
MLK is Assassinated
Martin Luther King is shot and killed by James Earl Ray. -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing. -
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
This court decision upholds busing as a legitimate means for achieving integration in public schools. -
Civil Rights Act of 1991
President Bush signs the Civil Rights Act of 1991, strengthening civil rights laws and providing for damages caused by intentional employment discrimination. -
Los Angeles Race Riots of 1992
Race riots occur in south-central Los Angeles after four white police officers are acquitted for the videotaped beating of Rodney King, an African American.
