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Period: to
1950s
During the 1950s the push for more racial equality was just starting and those that wanted equality were struggling to find support, especially throughout the southern states. One of the main focuses of the 1950s was the desegregation of schools after the ruling of the Brown v Board supreme court case. -
Sweatt v. Painter (Supreme Court Case)
This case was started when an African American man named Heman Marion Sweatt was immediately rejected from the University of Texas law school because of his race, the school tried to reason that they had another school for colored people. The supreme court ruled that the university had to accept Sweatt into the Law school because the school for colored people was significantly worse. -
Keys v. Carolina Coach (Supreme court case
After Sarah Keys Evans refused to give up her seat on a state-to-state charter bus on August 1, 1952, there was an uproar and a significant court case. In the Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company the Interstate Commerce Commission prohibited the segregation of Black passengers on interstate buses. -
Emmett Till’s Murder (Violence by Opposition)
The 14-year-old boy, Emmett Till was visiting his family in Mississippi when he was accused of supposedly flirting with a white woman. Once the husband and brother of the woman he "flirted" with heard what happened they brought him to the Tallahatchie River where they brutally beat and murdered him. Emmett Till's mother wanted an open casket funeral so people could see what they did to him. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott (Protest)
This protest was started by a black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for another white rider, this offense caused her to be arrested and the was bailed out by a local civil rights leader. There was a flyer that went out saying they would be doing a boycott of the busses where about 90% of African American residents in the area stayed off the busses. -
Creation of Montgomery Improvement Association (Achievement)
The association was founded in Montgomery, Alabama to promote the civil rights movement, which primarily centered on the desegregation of buses in Alabama. Martin Luther King Jr. led the organization, which was successful in drawing attention to racial segregation in the South on a national scale. -
Founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Achievement)
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference or SCLC was a civil rights organization mainly based in Atlanta, Georgia. The goal of this organization was to stop all racial discrimination using nonviolent methods, they were famous for things like Birmingham. -
Little Rock Nine Crisis (Protest)
The little rock nine were nine African American students who were the first to enroll in a previously all-white school called Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, this was to test if the results from Brown v Board would actually hold up. On the first day of classes, they were blocked from entering the schools, and a few weeks later the Little Rock Nine were escorted inside the school by federal forces sent by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957 (Legislation)
This law gave the federal government power to prosecute those who interfered with other people's right to vote. Additionally, it was the first civil rights measure passed by the US Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. -
Cooper V. Aaron (Supreme Court Case)
Members of the school board sued the US District Court of Arkansas five months after the Little Nine Rock Crisis, requesting that the desegregation plan be stopped. The school was later closed down after the Supreme Court determined that Arkansas could not implement legislation contradicting the decision made by the court in Brown v. Board of Education. -
Period: to
1960s
During the 1960s the civil rights movement was starting to gain more traction and notice from the news stations. The new focus is on doing more things like protests and walks to demonstrate unity and support for the movement. With the creation of the SCLC, there were more nonviolent protests like Birmingham which has planned nonviolent but then became violent with the police presence. -
Greensboro Sit-In (Protest)
This protest was started by four young African American boys named Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil, they went to Woolworth’s which was a diner in Greensboro where it was the law to only serve white people. They sat down at the counter and stayed till it closed, during that time the police arrived but were unable to do anything because there was no violence, the news stations were called and there was mass coverage of the protest. -
Freedom Rides (Violence by Opposition)
The freedom riders were a group of both black and white activists who wanted to see if the rules and laws were being enforced throughout the states. For the most part they found the rues being followed but when they went to South Carolina where there was some violence, there was one incident in Alabama where a mob of white spremisits threw a bomb into the bus that the Freedom riders were in. -
Albany Campaign (Protest)
The Albany Movement, which initially concentrated on desegregating transport facilities, created a permanent interracial commission to consider future desegregation, and releasing people detained in segregation protests. This movement gained a mass media presence and Martin Luther King Jr. also joined the movement. -
Integration of the University of Mississippi (Achievement)
James Meredith became the first African American to enroll in the University of Mississippi. Which caused riots to break out on the University of Mississippi campus in Oxford, where residents, students, and segregationists had congregated to oppose James Meredith's enrollment. -
Birmingham Movement (Protest, Violence by Opposition)
The Birmingham movement was in Birmingham Alabama, this was multiple protests against all the segregation in Alabama. This consisted of marches and sit-in protests, things got violent and there were dogs released on the protesters as well as fire hoses being used on the protesters. -
Assassination of Medgar Evers (Violence by Opposition)
Medgar Evers was a well-known Southern civil rights activist and the NAACP's first field representative in Mississippi. He was assassinated by Byron De La Beckwith Jr. who was a white supremacist and a previous member of the Ku Klux Klan. -
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (Protest)
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom had an estimated 250,000 participants and was the largest civil rights protest of its time, this March was to protest the rights of Freedom and Jobs for African Americans. It was during this March that there were many speakers and most famously, Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech. -
Mississippi Freedom Summer (Achievement)
The Mississippi Freedom Summer was a project where the goal was to get as many African Americans as possible to become registered voters. This movement really brought support from the white people there were about 700 white volunteers that went to help the African Americans overcome the hurdles. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Legislation)
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a really impactful Act, it stops the discrimination of people because of their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This really helped the African Americans get jobs and helped them with voting rights. -
Heart of Atlanta Motel vs. US (Supreme Court Case)
the Heart of Atlanta Motel had refused to book rooms to African Americans who wanted to stay in their hotel. Congress stated it was against the law and the owner of the motel said that Congress was overstepping and brought the issue to the supreme court. According to the Supreme Court, Congress has the authority to ensure that private companies, like the motel, abide by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
Assassination of Malcolm X (Violence by Opposition)
Malcolm X was a religious and civil rights leader, on February 21, 1965, he was giving a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. During this speech, he was assassinated by Thomas Hagan, who was a former member of the Nation of Islam. -
March from Selma to Montgomery (Protest)
This March started in Selma Alabama and finished in Montgomery Alabama, it was a 54-mile route where the protesters were walking along the trail for 3 whole days. They were met with much violence from white supremacist groups, but they were being protected by the National Guard and eventually reached their goal. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Legislation)
This act made it illegal to discriminate against voters, with an emphasis on African American voters. This also took away all the obstacles that the people had put in front of the voters like the literacy tests that were basically impossible to answer correctly. -
James Meredith’s March Against Fear (Protest, Violence by Opposition)
An activist named James Meredith was the first African American to enroll at the University of Mississippi, he began a lonely walk from Memphis to Jackson, Mississippi. The walk was to bring focus to the racism and voter discrimination in the South, during the walk a white salesman snuck behind him and shot him in the neck, head, and back. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Violence by Opposition)
Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by a white man who went against his civil rights efforts and wanted to prevent the march MLK Jr. had the following Monday, the man who confessed to the assassination is James Earl Ray. After he was killed, racial tensions flared, killing 40 more people nationwide and causing property damage in more than 100 American communities. -
Fair Housing Act (Legislation)
The Fair Housing Act made it unlawful for people to discriminate against people when they are trying to buy, rent, or get a mortgage. The act also made sure that people with physical and mental disabilities would not be discriminated against when they are trying to buy houses. -
Period: to
1970s
During the 1970 the movement was in full swing, just like Hank Aaron’s records. More and more people were stepping up and speaking out about the ways that we can change. There was still violence against the desegregation of the schools but these were now thankfully handled by the Civil rights act. -
Shirley Chisholm’s Presidential Campaign (Achievement)
The 12th congressional district in New York was represented by Shirley Chisholm. She made history by being the first black person to run for the major-party nomination. Additionally, she was the first female candidate for the Democratic Party's candidacy her campaign slogan was “Unbought and Unbossed". -
Swann vs. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (Supreme Court Case)
Darius and Vera Swann accused Charlotte-Mecklenburg of continuing to maintaining segregated schools. The parents filed a lawsuit against the state in an effort to get their Black son into a nearby, less expensive school that was previously only open to white students. -
Northern Violence over School Integration (Violence by Opposition)
While trying to desegregate and integrate the schools in the north there was some violence that ensued. For instance, the Boston desegregation busing crisis was where students that were bussed were attracted both physically and mentally by the opposers and the children faced anxiety and fear of going to school. -
Hank Aaron’s Home Run Record (Achievement)
Hank Aaron, a well-known black baseball player for the Atlanta Braves, broke Babe Ruth's legendary record by hitting his 715th career home run in 1974. The records for the most runs, extra-base hits, and total bases in a career still belong to Aaron. -
Barbara Jordan’s Address at the Democratic National Convention (Achievement)
The first black woman to make the keynote presentation at a significant party convention was Barbara Jordan. During the speech, Barbara Jordan skillfully outlined the Democratic views and how it relates to the continuation of civil rights. -
University of California Regents vs. Bakke (Supreme Court Case)
Allan Bakke, a white Californian who had been turned down twice for admission, sued the University of California in the Supreme Court on the grounds that his qualifications and grades were far superior to those of some of the African Americans who had been accepted. According to the decision in this case, it was unlawful to use race as the only factor in admissions choices.