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NAACP was founded
In 1909, Du Bois, Terrell, and others gathered in New York City, NY, where they founded the NAACP on February 12, 1909, to fight racism and violence against all people of color in the United States. -
Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson stepped onto Ebbets Field for his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was the beginning of an unparalleled career in baseball. At the end of his explosive nine years as a Dodger, his record included a . 311 batting average, 137 home runs, 734 runs batted in, and 197 stolen bases. -
CORE "Freedom Ride"
The Freedom Rides were a series of bus trips in 1961 that challenged segregation on interstate buses. The rides were organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a nonviolent civil rights organization. -
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Brown v. Board of education
In the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state-sponsored segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson. This decision marked a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement and mandated the desegregation of schools nationwide, asserting that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal. -
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her courageous act of protest was considered the spark that ignited the Civil Rights movement. For decades, Martin Luther King Jr.'s fame overshadowed hers. -
Desegregation of Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas
The desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, gained national attention on September 3, 1957, when Governor Orval Faubus mobilized the Arkansas National Guard in an effort to prevent nine African American students from integrating the high school. -
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957
On September 9, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Originally proposed by Attorney General Herbert Brownell, the Act marked the first occasion since Reconstruction that the federal government undertook significant legislative action to protect civil rights. -
Sit-in at Woolworth’s lunch counter
On February 1, 1960, the four students sat down at the lunch counter at the Woolworth's in downtown Greensboro, where the official policy was to refuse service to anyone but whites. Denied service, the four young men refused to give up their seats -
Dr. King was thrown into Birmingham Jail
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and jailed in Birmingham, Alabama on April 12, 1963. He was jailed for participating in a nonviolent protest against segregation. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a political demonstration in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. It was a major civil rights event that advocated for the economic and civil rights of Black Americans. -
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2, 1964, and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it into law. The act outlawed segregation in public places and employment discrimination. It also established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). -
Voting Rights act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. -
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated
An assassin fired a single shot that caused severe wounds to the lower right side of his face. SCLC aides rushed to him, and Ralph Abernathy cradled King's head. Others on the balcony pointed across the street toward the rear of a boarding house on South Main Street where the shot seemed to have originated. -
"Bloody Sunday"
The annual event commemorates Bloody Sunday, the attack on civil rights protestors on Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge that led to the Selma-to-Montgomery march and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.