Key Figures in the Civil Rights Movement

Emmett Till

A 14-year-old African American boy who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955, an event that galvanized the civil rights movement.

Civil Rights Movement

A struggle for social justice by African Americans to gain equal rights and end racial discrimination.

Medgar Evers

The field secretary for the NAACP in Mississippi, he was assassinated in 1963, drawing national attention to civil rights.

John Lewis

A prominent member of SNCC and civil rights leader known for his speeches and nonviolent protests, including the Selma to Montgomery marches.

Fannie Lou Hamer

A civil rights activist known for her role in organizing voter registration drives and her impactful testimony against racism.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Founded in 1957 and led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., focusing on nonviolent protest to combat racial segregation.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

Established in 1960 by young activists committed to nonviolent protest and civil disobedience in the civil rights movement.

CORE

Congress of Racial Equality

Freedom Summer

A 1964 campaign aimed at increasing voter registration among African Americans in Mississippi, highlighting systemic barriers.

Selma to Montgomery Marches

1965 marches organized to protest voting rights discrimination, which led to national outrage and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Joseph Smitherman

mayor of Selma; purposely mispronounced MLK’s name as a racial slur

Lyndon Johnson

President who supported expansion of civil rights and voting rights legislation

Jim Clark

chief of police in Selma; altercation with CT Vivian and other protestors

Diane Nash

member of SNCC, convinced Ben West to desegregate

Jimmy Lee Jackson

killed by Alabama State trooper; catalyst for march on Birmingham

George Wallace

Governor of Alabama known for his staunch opposition to desegregation and civil rights, famously stating "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."

Dave Dennis

CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) spoke out against James Cheney’s killing

A. Phillip Randolph

an older civil rights activist who pleaded with John Lewis, Courtland Cox, and James Forman to tone down their criticism of the Kennedy administration for not doing enough to move civil rights legislation forward.

Ella Baker

member of SCLC who encouraged the young civil rights activists to form their own organization (SNCC)

Reverend Wyatt Tee Walker

member of SCLC criticized SNCC for not taking full advantage of the efforts of Dr. King and his strategy

MFDP

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party

Dr. Martin Luther King JR

founder of the SCLC; leader of the passive resistance movement against bigotry and institutional racism in the South