Civil Rights:A People's Protest
" The only tired I was, was tired of giving in." - Rosa Parks
Time line of events
1954 - Brown vs. The Board of Education
The Supreme Court rules that school segregation is unconstitutional
1955 - Emmett Till, an African American teenager is found dead for allegedly flirting with a white woman. Evidence
pointed to two white men, but they were acquitted by an all white jury.
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on the bus, thus putting the Montgomery Bus Boycott into action
1958 - Little Rock Desegregation
President Eisenhower sends the National Guard to Little Rock's Central High School to protect nine African
American students as they desegregate the schools.
1960 - Sit-in Campaigns
Students across the country stage sit-ins to protest segregation in restaurants.
1961 - Freedom Rides
Volunteers travel around the South by bus in an attempt to desegregate bus terminals
1963- Birmingham Protests
Protesters march in Birmingham, Alabama. Martin Luther King, Jr. is jailed and writes his "Letter from
Birmingham Jail," advocating nonviolence.
March on Washington
Nearly 200,000 people march in Washington, D.C.
Martin Luther King, Jr. give his "I Have a Dream" speech.
Assassination of JFK
President Kennedy, a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, is killed during a parade in Dallas.
1964 - Martin Luther King, Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the Civil Rights Movement.
The Civil Rights Act
Legislation signed by President Johnson prohibits discrimination in all public places
1965 - Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X, African American nationalist and a previous leader of the nation of Islam, is assassinated in New
York.
Voting Rights Act
Black voter registration triples after the banning of literacy tests and poll taxes
1967 - Thurgood Marshall is appointed the first African American appointee to the Supreme Court
1968 - Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot at his motel in Memphis, Tennessee, and dies.
1954 - Brown vs. The Board of Education
The Supreme Court rules that school segregation is unconstitutional
1955 - Emmett Till, an African American teenager is found dead for allegedly flirting with a white woman. Evidence
pointed to two white men, but they were acquitted by an all white jury.
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on the bus, thus putting the Montgomery Bus Boycott into action
1958 - Little Rock Desegregation
President Eisenhower sends the National Guard to Little Rock's Central High School to protect nine African
American students as they desegregate the schools.
1960 - Sit-in Campaigns
Students across the country stage sit-ins to protest segregation in restaurants.
1961 - Freedom Rides
Volunteers travel around the South by bus in an attempt to desegregate bus terminals
1963- Birmingham Protests
Protesters march in Birmingham, Alabama. Martin Luther King, Jr. is jailed and writes his "Letter from
Birmingham Jail," advocating nonviolence.
March on Washington
Nearly 200,000 people march in Washington, D.C.
Martin Luther King, Jr. give his "I Have a Dream" speech.
Assassination of JFK
President Kennedy, a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, is killed during a parade in Dallas.
1964 - Martin Luther King, Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the Civil Rights Movement.
The Civil Rights Act
Legislation signed by President Johnson prohibits discrimination in all public places
1965 - Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X, African American nationalist and a previous leader of the nation of Islam, is assassinated in New
York.
Voting Rights Act
Black voter registration triples after the banning of literacy tests and poll taxes
1967 - Thurgood Marshall is appointed the first African American appointee to the Supreme Court
1968 - Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot at his motel in Memphis, Tennessee, and dies.