Civil Rights Timeline

By Cla0156ire

  • Civil Rights Act of 1871

    Also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act that was intended to combat the racial violence and intimidation of the KKK in the south during Reconstruction

  • Executive Order 9981

    After WWII President Truman enacted this order to officially desegregating the military after integrated forces like Tuskegee Airmen in the war.

  • Executive Order 9981

    A law moved by President Truman after WWII to desegregate the military after integration during WWII like the Tuskegee Airmen.

  • Brown v. Board of Education

    Enacted with the help of the NAACP to prevent racial discrimination in education. This law overruled the idea of “separate but equal”

  • Lynching of Emmett Till

    A 14 year old African American boy was abducted for being accused of assaulting a white woman and was brutally lynched. She later revoked the accusation.

  • Rosa Parks Arrested

    Rosa Parks was arrested for sitting in a white’s only section of a bus and refused to move when asked. Following her arrest outrage ensued and began the bus boycott and the creation of MIA.

  • Segregated Seating Deemed Unconstitutional

    After 381 days of a boycott against the Montgomery bus system which pushed the Supreme Court to rule segregated seating as unconstitutional.

  • Little Rock Nine Attend School

    9 young African American boys attended a school in Little Rock, Arkansas to integrate but were met with violence. Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort them around the school, though they were still harassed.

  • Civil Rights Act of 1957

    President Eisenhower issued the Civil Rights Act into a law and it allowed prosecution of anyone who tried to prevent someone else from voting. It was the first major reform since reconstruction.

  • Sit-In at Woolworth’s

    4 college students in Greensboro, North Carolina started a sit-in protest to integrate lunch counters and diners. Hundreds joined and some were arrested and it led to a boycott. In the end the first 4 were finally served.

  • Ruby Bridges and the New Orleans School Integration

    6 year old Ruby Bridges was escorted around an all white school by 4 federal Marshalls. They were met with angry mobs and some parents even showed up to remove their children as protest.

  • Freedom Riders

    13 freedom riders, six of which were white activists, boarded a bus in Washington D.C and drove to Alabama to protest segregated bus terminals. When they arrived the bus was bombed. They all escaped but were brutally beat when they did.

  • Birmingham Demonstrations

    In the spring of 1963, MLK and a local pastor began a campaign starting with sit-ins, boycotts, protests, and marches on city hall. These continued until the March on Washington

  • Children’s Crusade

    A tactic used by MLK in Birmingham where thousands of students and children marched in protest for civil rights. They were sprayed with fire hoses, beat by police clubs, and attacked by police dogs.

  • March on Washington

    200,000 people gathered for a peaceful march to advocate for civil rights legislation. This was also the event where MLK gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.

  • Bombing of Birmingham Church

    Even though MLK’s campaign negotiated local reforms there was still high tension in the community. Someone planted a bomb in a church, killing 4 young African American girls and injuring 14 others.

  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

    President Lyndon B. Johnson signed this act written by JFK before his assassination and it ensured equal employment, discontinued voting literacy tests, and integrated public facilities.

  • Malcom X Assassination

    Prominent African American activist and leader, Malcom X, was killed at a lecture in the Audubon ballroom in Harlem, New York.

  • Bloody Sunday

    600 peaceful protesters marched from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery. When they arrived at a bridge they met a mob who charged and brutally attacked them, leaving many hospitalized.

  • Voting Rights Act of 1965

    President Lyndon B. Johnson signed this into a law and it banned all voting literacy tests and assigned federal examiners in each jurisdiction. It also later banned poll taxes.

  • Watts Riots

    A police officer arrested an innocent black man and in the 6 following days violence, looting, and fires broke out. These riots resulted in 34 deaths, over 1000 injuries and $40 million in damage.

  • Loving v. Virginia

    A Virginian law had been passed that banned mixed racial couples. Richard Loving and Mildred Jetter were found in violation and they were to remain divorced and leave Virginia.

  • Detroit Riot

    After a prominently African American club raid ending in 32 arrested, others protested, looted, and started fires for 5 days. Fires spread and led to 43 more deaths, 7000 arrests, hundreds of injuries, and 1000 burned buildings.

  • Martin Luther King Jr Assasinated

    MLK was assassinated on his balcony. Emotionally charged riots and looting following, pushing for more civil rights laws.

  • Fair Housing Act of 1968

    Days after Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, this law was signed and prevented discrimination of race, sex, national origin, or religion in real estate. This was also the last piece of legislation signed in the civil rights era.

  • Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

    A Supreme Court case that addressed the constitutionality of college admissions use of affirmative action. After a man was denied admission the Supreme Court ruled racial quotas in admission was unconstitutional.