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24th Amendment
1964 – 24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment was ratified, prohibiting poll taxes in federal elections—removing a barrier that prevented many African Americans from voting. -
Brown v. Board of Education
1954 – Brown v. Board of Education
The U.S. Supreme Court declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson and marking a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement. -
Emmett Till Murder
1955 – Emmett Till Murder
14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi for allegedly whistling at a white woman. His death and open-casket funeral shocked the nation and fueled the movement. -
Rosa Parks & the Montgomery Bus Boycott
1955–1956 – Rosa Parks the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. This led to a year-long boycott of city buses led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which ended with the Supreme Court ruling segregation on public buses unconstitutional. -
The Little Rock Nine and Integration
1957 – The Little Rock Nine and Integration
Nine Black students integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, facing angry mobs and requiring federal troop protection ordered by President Eisenhower. -
Greensboro Woolworth's Sit-ins
1960 – Greensboro Woolworth's Sit-ins
Four Black college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, staged a sit-in at a whites-only lunch counter. Their peaceful protest sparked a wave of similar sit-ins across the country. -
Freedom Rides
1961 – Freedom Rides
Black and white civil rights activists rode interstate buses into the segregated South to challenge the non-enforcement of Supreme Court decisions banning segregated bus terminals. -
MLK’s Letter From Birmingham Jail
1963 – MLK’s Letter From Birmingham Jail
Dr. King wrote a powerful defense of nonviolent protest while jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, responding to criticism from white clergy who urged him to wait for change. -
March on Washington
1963 – March on Washington
Over 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., where Dr. King delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, calling for an end to racism and equal rights for all. -
Birmingham Baptist Church Bombing
1963 – Birmingham Baptist Church Bombing
A bomb exploded at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young Black girls and shocking the nation, highlighting the violence faced by civil rights activists. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
1964 – Civil Rights Act of 1964
This landmark legislation outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and ended segregation in public places. -
“Bloody Sunday”/Selma to Montgomery March
1965 – “Bloody Sunday”/Selma to Montgomery March
Civil rights activists marching for voting rights were brutally attacked by law enforcement on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. The violence was broadcast nationwide and galvanized support for voting rights. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
1965 – Voting Rights Act of 1965
This law banned discriminatory voting practices, like literacy tests, and gave the federal government the power to oversee voter registration in areas where discrimination was common. -
Loving v. Virginia
1967 – Loving v. Virginia
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage were unconstitutional, ending race-based legal restrictions on marriage.