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The Supreme Court Decision of Plessy v. Ferguson
Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that racial segregation laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in quality, a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal". -
The Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). -
The Integration of Major League Baseball
For nearly 60 years baseball was a segregated sport as the American and National Leagues that formed Major League Baseball unofficially banned African-Americans from their ranks. That all changed when Jackie Robinson stepped onto the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. -
The Integration of the Armed Forces
On July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, creating the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services. The order mandated the desegregation of the U.S. military. -
The Supreme Court Decision of Sweatt v. Painter
In the Supreme Court case of "Sweatt v. Painter" (1950), the court ruled that the University of Texas Law School must admit Heman Sweatt, an African American applicant, because the separate law school created for Black students was deemed grossly unequal, effectively striking a blow against segregation in graduate education and marking a significant step towards the later Brown v. Board of Education decision; this ruling was based on the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
The Supreme Court Decision of Brown v. Board of Education
The Supreme Court decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954) ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, effectively overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson and marking a major milestone in the Civil Rights Movement; this decision declared that separating children in public schools based on race violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
The Death of Emmitt Till
Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955) was a 14-year-old African American youth, who was abducted and lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery store. The brutality of his murder and the acquittal of his killers drew attention to the long history of violent persecution of African Americans in the United States. Till posthumously became an icon of the civil rights movement -
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United States. -
The Integration of Little Rock High School
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas. They then attended after the intervention of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1957
The result was the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. The new act established the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department and empowered federal prosecutors to obtain court injunctions against interference with the right to vote. -
The Greensboro Four Lunch Counter Sit-In
The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in February to July 1960, primarily in the Woolworth store — now the International Civil Rights Center and Museum — in Greensboro, North Carolina, which led to the F. W. Woolworth Company department store chain removing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States. -
The Freedom Rides by Freedom Riders of 1961
The "Freedom Rides" of 1961 were a series of bus trips undertaken by civil rights activists, known as "Freedom Riders," who intentionally rode interstate buses through the segregated American South to protest against segregation at bus terminals, directly challenging a Supreme Court ruling that declared such segregation unconstitutional; these rides, often met with violent opposition. -
The Twenty-Fourth Amendment
Amendment Twenty-four to the Constitution was ratified on January 23, 1964. It abolished and forbids the federal and state governments from imposing taxes on voters during federal elections. -
The Integration of the University of Mississippi
In 1962, a federal appeals court ordered the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, an African-American student. Upon his arrival, a mob of more than 2,000 white people rioted; two people were killed. -
The Integration of The University of Alabama
The successful integration of The University of Alabama that began on June 11, 1963, opened doors not only to two Black students, but for decades of progress toward becoming an inclusive campus. -
The March on Washington & "I Have a Dream" speech by MLK
On August 28, 1963, an estimated 250,000 people marched to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington where they heard Martin Luther King Jr. give a speech destined to resonate through the ages. -
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline, Texas governor John Connally, and Connally's wife Nellie, when he was fatally shot from the nearby Texas School Book Depository by Lee Harvey Oswald. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed by President Johnson
This act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964, prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. It was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. -
The Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X was assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam on February 21, 1965. The shooters were William 25X, Leon Davis, and Thomas Hagan, also known as Talmadge X Hayer. -
The Selma to Montgomery March: "Bloody Sunday"
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three protest marches, held in 1965, along the 54-mile (87 km) highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery. The marches were organized by nonviolent activists to demonstrate the desire of African-American citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote, in defiance of segregationist repression. -
The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee
At 6:05 P.M. on Thursday, 4 April 1968, Martin Luther King was shot dead while standing on a balcony outside his second-floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. News of King's assassination prompted major outbreaks of racial violence, resulting in more than 40 deaths nationwide. -
The Voting Right Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1968
The Civil Rights Act of 1968 is a landmark law in the United States signed into law by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during the King assassination riots.