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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. This decision overturned the "separate but equal" ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) which had allowed Jim Crow laws to prevail during the first half of the 20th century. This ruling was the catalyst that led to segregation in other public facilities being considered unconstitutional as well. -
The Lynching of Emmett Till
Emmett Till was an African American teenager who was abducted and lynched in Mississippi after being accused of whistling at a white woman. His murder sparked an upsurge in activism and resistance in the Civil Rights Movement. -
Rosa Parks and the beginning of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white passenger. Her subsequent arrest initiated the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. -
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The Montgomery Bus Boycott
The boycott was a result of the arrest of Rosa Parks, a black woman who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. The boycott was led by Martin Luther King, Jr. Following this boycott, the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional for buses to have segregated seating. -
The Little Rock Nine
Nine African American students encountered a large on their first day of school by a white mob and soldiers from the Arkansas National Guard, sent by the governor at the time (Faubus), who blocked the entrance of the all-white school. They were met with violence upon returning. This drew international attention to civil rights in the U.S. -
Little Rock Nine Protected and Allowed to Enter School
The Little Rock Nine returned to the school, entered the school, and were protected by U.S. soldiers. This showed the struggle between federal and state power. -
The Greensboro Four
Four African American students from Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina, sat at the "whites only" lunch counter after making purchases at the Woolworth department store. They were refused service and asked to leave. They stayed seated and returned with about 20 other black students. -
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The Sit-In Movement
Following the Greensboro Four example, protestors took every seat in the department store, eventually spilling out of the store. As protestors were arrested, others would take their places. It spread from North Carolina, to Atlanta and Nashville. Eventually, Greensboro Woolworth's began to serve African American patrons. -
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The Freedom Rides
Group of seven African Americans and six white people who boarded two buses bound for New Orleans, testing the Supreme Court's ruling in the Boynton v. Virginia case which banned segregated interstate bus travel. After being beaten and arrested, more Freedom Riders would take their place, eventually leading to AG Robert F. Kennedy ordering the Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce bans on segregation more strictly. -
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The Birmingham Demonstrations
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) launched a campaign in Birmingham, Alabama to undermine the city's system of racial segregation. It consisted of sit-ins, economic boycotts, mass protests, and marches on City Hall. Eventually, these marches included school-aged children, called the Children's Crusade. They were still met with violence, and even a bomb killed four African American girls. This did not stop the Civil Rights Movement. -
The March on Washington, D.C.
A crowd of about 250,000 people gathered peacefully on the National Mall in Washington D.C., to listen to speeches given by civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr. He addressed the crowd with what famously became known as the "I Have a Dream" speech. -
The Civil Rights Act
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, a stronger version of the one President Kennedy had proposed the summer before his assassination. The act authorized the federal government to prevent racial discrimination in employment, voting, and the use of public facilities.