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Executive Order 9981 Signed by President Truman.
President Truman signed the Executive Order 9981, which mandated the desegregation of the U.S. Military. Many Politicians and Generals opposed this order, Truman stated, “I am asking for equality of opportunity for all human beings, and as long as I stay here, I am going to continue that fight.” -
Rosa Parks Arrest.
Rosa Parks was Arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 is Passed.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed The Civil Rights Act. The Act was to increase the number of registered Black Voters in the Southern States -
The Birmingham Children’s March.
Over 1,000 students in Birmingham, Alabama skipped school to walk downtown and talk with the Mayor about segregation in their town. -
March on Washington / I Have a Dream Speech.
250,000 people gathered together at The Lincoln Memorial to hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak on American Civil Rights, Economic Rights, and to End Racism. Here is one of Dr. King's most famous quotes "I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal" (King). -
Freedom Summer.
Over 700 mostly white volunteers joined African Americans in Mississippi to push towards increasing the number of registered Black Voters in the State. -
The Selma Marches / Bloody Sunday.
Three protest marches held in Selma, Alabama. They walked 48.8 mi to Montgomery (about 17hr 40min) 600 people were attacked on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The police used billy clubs on them and sprayed them with tear gas.