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Agents of Change in the Civil Rights Movement

By Katherineam

  • Brown vs. Board of Education

    Brown vs. Board of Education
    The Supreme Court ruling on the Brown vs. Board of Education case declared segreation in public schools unconstitutional. This case was the first of many to make strides towards equal rights for African Americans.

  • Rosa Parks

    Rosa Parks
    In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a white woman and move to the back of the bus (the "colored section.") As a protest to her arrest, the black community boycotted public transportation until the desegregation of busses one year later.

  • Little Rock Nine

    Little Rock Nine
    Two years after the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, nine black students are blocked by violent protestors from entering formerly segregated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. President Eisenhower sent the National Guard to escort them into the school without being harmed.

  • Greensboro, N.C. Sit-in

    Greensboro, N.C. Sit-in
    Four black students from a North Carolina College started a sit-in at Woolworth's, a segregated diner. Although they were not served, they could not legally be stopped from sitting at the counter. This sit-in was the first of many nonviolent sit-ins to protest segregation.

  • Freedom Riders

    Freedom Riders
    During the Summer of 1961, many students from Northern universities volunteered to travel on busses to segregated Sourthern states in support of civil rights. Many of these white students were attacked by angry mobs because of their efforts to help.

  • "I Have a Dream"

    "I Have a Dream"
    Martin Luther King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech to over 200,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C..

  • Civil Rights Act

    Civil Rights Act
    President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act, prohibiting any and all discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin, as well as giving the federal government with the powers to enforce desegregation.

  • Bloody Sunday

    Bloody Sunday
    Led by Martin Luther King, Civil Rights activists march to Selma, Alabama in support of equal voting rights. They were stopped and assaulted by local police on Pettus Bridge, sending 50 marchers to the hospital with injuries from tear gas, whips, and clubs.

  • Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Assassination

    Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Assassination
    Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray while standing on his hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee.