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Freedman's Bureau
The Freedman's Bureau is established by Congress to help former slaves. It includes the creation of schools. -
14th Amendment Ratification
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." -
Hampton University
Hampton University is established to provide education and vocational skills to Black Americans. Other educational institutions for Black Americans followed, including Morehouse College (1867), Tuskegee Institute (1881), and Spelman College (1881). -
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
Richard Henry Pratt establishes the Carlisle Indian Industrial School under the premise of "kill the Indian, save the man." Similar boarding schools for Native American children are soon established. -
Mamie Tape
A superior court in California rules in favor of Mamie Tape, a Chinese American denied admittance to San Francisco public schools, citing violation of the 14th Amendment. A California school code enacted in 1872 made no educational provisions for children of color. The code is revised two weeks after the Tape decision, allowing the education of Chinese and Chinese American students in segregated schools. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Segregation is legalized under the "separate but equal" doctrine. This Supreme Court decision ushers in the era of Jim Crow laws, including legal segregation of public schools. -
Mendez v. Westminster School District
California courts rule in favor of school integration, and Governor Earl Warren, who would later become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, signs an integration law. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka I
The Supreme Court rules that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka II
The Supreme Court issues a second decision regarding the 1954 case, insisting schools must desegregate "with all deliberate speed." -
Little Rock Nine
Nine Black students enroll at previously all-white Central High School. The federal government is called in to protect the students from segregationists. -
Ruby Bridges
First-grader Ruby Bridges becomes the first Black student to integrate a formerly all-white New Orleans elementary school. Her story symbolizes the opposition many felt toward school integration. -
James Meredith
James Meredith enrolls at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). Though not the first Black American to attend a formerly segregated university, the violent reactions he encountered symbolize deep-seated opposition to integration. -
Civil Rights Act
This legislation gives the federal government the authority to defund schools that refuse to integrate. -
Green v. School Board of New Kent County
The Supreme Court rules that "freedom-of-choice" plans, which allow a student to attend any school, are not a constitutional means of achieving integration. The court rules that the student body, faculty/staff, transportation, and extracurricular activities must be desegregated. -
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
The Supreme Court rules that busing is a constitutional means of hastening school integration. -
Boston Bus Riots
Violent protesters express opposition against using busing to desegregate Boston's public schools. This event symbolizes the continued resistance to integration 20 years after the Brown decision. -
2020
Schools in the United States remain segregated. The majority of Black and Hispanic students attend "majority-minority" schools.
