Brown v. Board of Education
1954 (segregated pubic school education based on race is declared unconstitutional)
Brown v. Board of Education II
1955 (court orders segregation to be phased out over time with deliberate speed)
Rosa Parks and Montgomery Bus Boycotts (date)
1955-1956
Rosa Parks and Montgomery Bus Boycotts (what happened?)
Taking inspiration from Emmett Till, Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger.
She is arrested and convicted for disorderly conduct and violating local ordinance.
Sparks boycott of bus system from roughly 40,000 AA passengers.
Court eventually declared segregation of public transport unconstitutional and boycott ended after 381 days
Integration of Mississippi Universities Begins
1956
Little Rock 9 (date)
1957
Little Rock 9 (what happened?)
9 academically strong AA students are chosen to integrate into a white high school (Central High)
Governor of Arkansas calls National Guard to prevent LR9 from entering Central High
Elizabeth Eckford is harassed by a white mob
P. Eisenhower calls 101st Airborne to protect LR9
Success but LR9 are harassed daily
Ernest Green graduates in 1958
Greensboro Sit-ins (date)
1960
Greensboro Sit-ins (what happened?)
4 AA college students (Greensboro 4) sat at a segregated lunch counter and were refused service
Sparked a movement of AA youth sitting peacefully in diners and occupying all the seats
Participants faced torment and abuse from whites and non-violent training seminars began to prepare protestors
Activist in this movement formed SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)
Freedom Rides (date)
1961
Freedom Rides (what happened?)
A journey by civil rights activists on interstate buses in the south to test the courts decision in Boynton v. Virginia (1960) which ended segregation on interstate buses
In Anniston, Alabama a bus was firebombed and riders were beaten in Birmingham, Alabama
Public support and sympathy led to JFK administration to order the Interstate Commerce Commission to issue a new desegregation order
ICC rule took effect Nov. 1st, 1961 and allowed passengers to sit anywhere, desegregation of bus stations, petty segregation ended, and lunch counters were desegregated
SNCC organized (at grassroots level) voter registration program
1961
Albany Movement (date)
1962
Albany Movement (what happened?)
led by local Albany Leaders and SNCC (with SNCC and MLK swooping in later on and taking control)
Failed since police chief Laurie Pritchett had read MLK’s memoir about Montgomery and ensured that the police force responded to protests non-violently
Federal Court made MLK call of the movement and he agreed (to remain allies)
James Meredith Integration at University of Mississippi
1962 (made to sit around a corner or facing away from the class, federal troops got involved, success)
March on Washington
1963 (¼ of a million participants to demonstrate support for JFK’s Civil Rights bill, MLK’s “I Have a Dream Speech”)
Assassination of Medgar Eyers
1963 (inspired the Freedom Summer)
Birmingham Campaign (date)
1963-1964
Birmingham Campaign (what happened?)
After failure in Albany, Birmingham was chosen for the next campaign due to incredibly violent police chief “Bull” Connor
Firehoses and police dogs were used on non-violent protestors along with other violent tactics
Young children participated and still were met with violence
MLK was arrested and wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in which he stated that civil rights can not wait
In response JFK asks congress to pass CR bill
Mississippi Freedom Summer (date)
1964
Mississippi Freedom Summer (what happened?)
Organized by Bob Moses
Aimed to empower and educated southern AA about voting rights and increase voter registration for upcoming election
Murder of Cheney, Goodman, and Schwerner (volunteers) brings national attention and FBI investigation
They were lynched and murdered which revealed the depth of violence segregationists were willing to go to in order to maintain white supremacy
JFK Assassination
Nov. 1963
Civil Rights Act Passed
July 1964 (under LBJ, outlawed segregation in schools, public places, and employment)
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (date)
1964
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (what happened?)
Aimed to replace all-white Mississippi delegates at the Democratic National Convention (Aug. 1964)
Achieved a compromise but refused it and promised that the party will never seat delegations elected through unfair voting laws
MLK Awarded Nobel Peace Prize
1964
Selma Campaign (date)
1965
Selma Campaign (what happened?)
Sparked by murder and beating of Jamie Lee Jackson during a peaceful SNCC led march for voter registration drive
Plan was for protestors to march from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights
Bloody Sunday: On the Edmund Pettus Bridge state troopers and county members attacked protestors and forced their retreat
MLK joined the campaign
Turnaround Tuesday: MLK leads protestors back to bridge and then turns around obeying a federal court order to not go through with the march
Eventually the order is lifted and march is successfully completed
LBJ requests the passing of the Voting Rights Act by Congress in “We Shall Overcome” speech
Voting Rights Act Passed by Congress
1965