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Brown vs. Board of Education
In spring of 1954, African-American students were beginning to rebel agisnt school's segregation systems. The NAACP ried to persuade them to give up, but when the students refused, the NAACP joined their rebellion. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court passed on it's decision regarding the case Brown vs. Board of Education, allwoign integration in schools. They declared that segregation was "unconstitutional." -
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
On December 1, 1955 ,Rosa parks, an African-American citizen, refused to give up her seat on a public bus for a white passenger. Parks was arrested, tried, and convicted on the charges of disorderly conduct and violating a local ordinance. A boycott of the public buses then began in Montgomery and lasted for 381 days until the ordinace was lifted, Martin Luther King, Jr. was a young baptist minister that directed the boycott. -
Desegregating Little Rock
Nine black students had been chosen to attend Little Rock Cental High School in Arkansas because of their outstanding grades. Upon arrival, they recieved harasament by white protestors outside the sschool. They were allowed to attend, but after the school year was completed, the Little Rock system decided to shut down public school rather tahn integrate. -
Sit-Ins 1958-1960
A sit-in is where citizens occupy seats and refuse to move. It is a way of prostesting, and in 1958, many sit-ins began to occur. One occured in a drug store in Wichita, Kansas. After three weeks, the store desegregated. On March 9, 1960, a group of students began a movement of sit-ins across Atlanta. Many black citizens participated in this movement. -
Freedom Rides
Freedom RiderFreedom Rides were journeys by African-American civil rights activists by interstate buses into the segregated southern United States. These rides were given to test the United States Supreme Court decision Boynton v. Virginia. This case ended segregation for passengers engaged in interstate travel. -
Voter Registration
In Mississippi, local black leaders asked SNCC to help register African-American Citizens for voting. Their efforts were met with violence and and arrests. However, their perserverence resulted in the passing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. -
Albany Movement 1961-62
Albany MovementA desegregation began in November of 1961 in Albany, Georgia.Hwever, the campaign was a failure becuase of the loclal polices cheifs tactics, and local black citisen division. -
Birmingham Campaign 1963-64
Birmingham CampaignUnlike the Albany Camapign, this campaign was directed toward one smaller goal: the desgregation of Birmingham's downtown merchants, rather than total desegregation. The campaign used sit-ins, kneel-ins at local churches, and a march to the county building. -
March on Washington
March on Washington for Jobs and FreedomThe march was held on August 28, 1963. Unlike a planned 1941 march, which included only black-led organizations in the planning, the 1963 march was a collaborative effort of all of the major civil rights organizations. The march was a success, bt nto without controversy. After the march, King and other civil rights leaders met with President Kennedy, who was for the Civil Rights Movement. -
St. Augustine, Florida 1963-64
St. Augustine became the stage for a great drama leading up to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1964, the first action came during spring break, when northern college students to come to the Ancient City not to go to the beach but to take part in demonstrations. A famous photograph taken in St. Augustine shows the manager of a motel pouring acid in the swimming pool while blacks and whites are swimming in it. -
Mississippi Freedom Summer
In the summer of 1964, nearly 1,000—most of them white college students—joined with local black activists to register voters, teach in "Freedom Schools," and organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Though Freedom Summer didn't register many voters, it impacted course of the Civil Rights Movement. The many events throughout the South increased media attention to Mississippi. -
Civil Rights Act
On July 2, 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that banned discrimination based on "race, color, religion, sex or national origin" in employment practices and public accommodations. The bill authorized the Attorney General to file lawsuits to enforce the new law. The law also nullified state and local laws that required such discrimination. -
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
In 1964, Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) was launched to challenge the all-white official party. They selected a slate of delegates to attend the 1964 Democratic National Convention. The presence of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was inconvenient for the convention organizers. They had planned a triumphant celebration of the Johnson administration’s achievements in civil rights, rather than a fight over rasicm with the Democratic Party. -
King Awarded Nobel Peace Prize
On December 10, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. He was the youngest man to receive the award; he was 35 years of age -
Integration of Missippi Universities, 1956-65
Beginning in 1956, Clyde Kennard tried to enroll at Mississippi Southern College. Dr. William David McCain, the college president, tried to stop this by appealing to local black leaders and the segregationist state political establishment. Kennard was twice arrested on trumped-up charges. After three years he was paroled. Kennard and other activists continued to work on public university desegregation. In 2006, a judge ruled that Kennard was innocent in all charges against him in the 1950's.
