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Plessy v. Ferguson
The U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the racist policy of segregation by legalizing “separate but equal” facilities for blacks and whites. -
The NAACP
A diverse group of people, white, blacks and Jews founded the NAACP. The goal of the group was to fight for civil rights in the United States. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimous decision that overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine in public schools. -
The Murder of Emmett Till
Emmett Till was murdered in Money, Mississippi. -
Rosa Parks disobeyed the law
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery City Bus and was arrested. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott begins. -
The SCLC
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, comprised of Martin Luther King, Jr., Charles K. Steele and Fred L. Shuttlesworth, was established. King was the organization's first president. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1957
Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1957 into law to help protect voter rights. The law allows federal prosecution of those who suppress another’s right to vote. -
The Little Rock Crisis
The Little Rock 9 enter Central High School as federal troops oversee the situation sent by President Eisenhower. -
The SNCC
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, providing young blacks with a more prominent place in the civil rights movement. -
Lunch Protest
4 black college students sat at an all-white lunch counter and started a sit-in protest at a Woolworth’s store -
Executive order 10925
President Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, prohibiting discrimination in federal government hiring on the basis of race, religion or national origin and establishing. -
The Freedom Riders
Freedom riders begin a bus ride through the South to protest segregation. -
James Meredith
James Meredith became the first African-American student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. -
The Birmingham Campaign
Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham protesting in the “most segregated city in America.” -
March on Washington
More than 250,000 people, march on Washington to demand immediate passage of the civil rights bill. -
The Baptist Church Bombing
The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing was an act of white supremacist terrorism by members of the Ku Klux Klan which occurred at a baptist church in Birmingham. Four girls got killed by the explosion -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was murdered in Dallas, Texas. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the premier legislation for Civil Rights into law. -
The Assassination of Malcolm X
The black religious leader Malcolm X is assassinated during a rally by members of the Nation of Islam. -
The Selma March
A march from Selma to Montgomery to fight for voting rights begins. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law outlawing literacy tests. -
The Black Panther Party
Huey Newton & Bobby Seale founded the “Black Power” political group known as the Black Panthers. -
The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1968
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Fair Housing Act, providing equal housing opportunity regardless of race, religion or national origin.
