Civil Rights Movement Timeline

Rise of the “Black Power” Movement “Black Power Movement” aka the Civil Rights Movement began in 1945 and lasted until about 1970. This prolonged struggle for equality among all people, regardless of race. These brave men and women helped to make America a place that can truly be called the “Land of the Free”.

Brown v. Board of Education On May 17th, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ended the previously federally sanctioned racial segregation racial segregation in public schools. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that “separate but equal facilities” were inherently unequal and unconstitutional. This ruling overturned Plessey v. Ferguson in 1896 which considered “separate but equal facilities” to be in line with the constitution.

Montgomery Bus Boycott African-Americans refused to ride city buses for 381 days as a form of peaceful protest. They rallied together and stood up against segregated seating. Rosa Parks’ quiet refusal to give up her seat to a white man and her resulting arrest inspired the boycott that lasted from December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956

The first nine African-American students who were involved in the desegregation of Little Rock High School in 1957 are known as the Little Rock Nine. The Nationwide crisis caused by this first step of desegregation began when Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus defied a federal court order by calling in the Arkansas National Guard to keen these students from even entering the school President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in response to this violation, federalized the U.S. National Guard and sent units of the Army’s 101st Ariborne division to escort the students into the school and protect them for the entire duration of the school year. Little Rock Nine

Greensboro Sit-ins This movement began on February 1st, 1960 when four African-American students fron NC A&T College went to a shop called Wollworth’s which was open to both Black and White Americans. The food counter, however, refused to serve the students food and they were asked to leave. They protested by simply remaining at the food counter until closing. They returned the next day, twenty-four students in all, who sat at the food counter and waited patiently and peacefully. Feb. 4th, white women students joined them in their protest. By February 7th, sit-ins occurred throughout the south in 15 cities in 9 states. In July, Woolworth’s in Greensboro gave in to the pressure of the students and desegregated it’s food counter.

Freedom Riders People known as Freedom Riders showed their disapproval of the racial segregation of interstate buses in the still-segregated Southern states. The first Freedom Ride left from Washington D.C. on May 4th, 1961. These people challenged the local laws and customs which enforced segregation. They were frequently resisted violently and even arrested or, in some cases, allowed by local police to be brutalized by white mobs. Their tenacity did however aid them in their pursuit of equality among all men, specifically regarding the segregation in public transportation in the South.

March on Washington D.C. The March on Washington D.C. for Jobs and Freedom occurred on August 28th, 1963. 250,000 people participated in what would prove to be the largest demonstration ever to be held in the Capital. Extensive television coverage helped magnify the effect of these peoples’ bold demonstration.

Civil Rights Act This act officially outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities as well as discrimination against women. Also, this act legally put an end to the unfairness in the requirements for voting registration. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 served as a predecessor to the Voting rights Act, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson the following year.

Freedom Summer Three civil rights workers, James E. Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were abducted, threatened, beaten, and eventually shot and killed. They were buried by their murderers, who were members of the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the Neshoba County’s Sheriff office and the Philadelphia Police Department (of Philadelphia, Mississippi). The bodies of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were discovered 44 days after they were abducted and murdered.

Voting Rights Act The purpose of this act was to enforce the 15th Amendment to the Constitution. This act outlawed literacy tests and poll taxes among other serious obstacles to the voting rights of African-Americans. Thanks to those brave, fiercely determined people who protested in peace, anyone may vote, regardless of the color of their skin.