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Plessy vs. Ferguson
U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld racial segregation stating the "separate but equal" line. -
Formation of NAACP
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is founded with the goals of better educational, social and political opportunities for African Americans. Sought to end discrimination and segregation in the U.S. -
NAACP vs Delaware Supreme Court
In the Delaware cases, the NAACP attorneys presented two main arguments: segregated schools harmed black children and violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws. Chancellor Collins Seitz ruled that African American pupils were receiving an inferior education and must be admitted to white schools. But he declined to strike down the principle of separate but equal. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Famous Supreme Court case that declared that the "separate but equal" laws were unconstitutional. Led to what is known as the Massive Resistance. The Supreme Court argued that "Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law" -
Segregation in Schools Outlawed
Board of Education Supreme Court case that outlawed segregation in schools in 1954. But the vast majority of segregated schools were not integrated until many years later. -
Brown 2
Legal cases brought to the Supreme Court by southern states wishing to be exempt from forced integration. Decreed that all public schools must integrate. -
Little Rock 9
Crisis that developed in Little Rock, Arkansas when 9 black students enrolled at a historically white High School. A mass of white students, parents and community members showed up on the first day of school to keep the new black students from entering. The crisis escalated until President Esisenhower had to call in the National Guard to maintain peace and get the black students to school safely.