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Jackie Robinson enters Major League Baseball
Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to play in the MLB. This has a huge effect on the portrayal of African Americans as baseball was the most popular sport in America. -
Executive Order 9981 signed by President Truman
This executive order ended racial discrimination within the military. This now required by law equal treatment for all service members. -
Emmett Till is murdered
Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till from Chicago is murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman four days before his death. The woman's husband and brother beat the boy to death, gouged out his eye, and shot him in the head all before dumping his body into the Tallahatchie River. -
Rosa Parks Arrest
Rosa Parks is arrested in Montgomery Alabama for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. She was later bailed out by Civil Rights Leader Nixon. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a protest against segregation on or during the use of public transportation. It lasted 381 days and directly led to a Supreme Court ruling that bus segregation was unconstitutional. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957 is passed
President Eisenhower passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 which established a Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department. This also gave the government the power to protect voting rights. -
Greensboro Sit-In Protest
A non-violent protest against a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. This led to a larger-scale sit-in movement led by the SNCC. -
Integration of Ole Miss Riots
Riots erupted on the University of Mississippi campus where many gathered to protest the enrollment of James Meredith, a black Air Force veteran. More than 2000 whites rioted and two people were killed. -
The Birmingham Children’s March
A march by over 1000 school students in Birmingham Alabama. This event was organized by James Bevel and the purpose was to walk downtown to talk to the mayor about segregation in their city. -
Medgar Evers shooting
37-year-old civil rights activist Medgar Evers was shot around midnight in a neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi. He was on the way home from a NAACP meeting and was shot in the back. -
March on Washington / I Have a Dream Speech
The infamous I Have a Dream Speech was delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr during the March on Washington. The speech called for civil and economic rights as well as an end to racism. -
16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
A terror bombing on a church in Birmingham, Alabama by a white supremacist group. Four girls were killed and many others were injured. -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer was a campaign launched by Civil Rights Activists to register as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi. More than 1000 people were arrested, 80 beat, 37 churches bombed or burned, 30 homes or businesses bombed or burned, and four civil rights workers were killed. -
Malcolm X is murdered
Malcom X was assassinated at the age of 39. He was shot multiple times and died from his wounds in Manhattan, NYC. -
The Selma Marches / Bloody Sunday
Three marches in Alabama along a 54 mile highway from Selma to Montgomery. These marches were in protest of Jim Crow laws and in advocation for the right to vote.