The Supreme Court Stands Up
With the Brown decision, the Supreme Court finally applies the Fourteenth Amendment to the public school system.
- Read more: Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
The Murder of Emmett Till
A black 14-year-old whistled at a white woman and was brutally murdered--and the killer got away with it.
- Read more: The Murder of Emmett Till
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
A black woman refused to give up her seat--and changed the country.
- Read more: The Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., the SCLC played a vital role in the civil rights movement.
The Little Rock Nine
Handing down the Brown ruling was one thing. Enforcing it was another.
James Meredith at Ole Miss
In 1962, one black student went to Ole Miss. In 2006, over 1,200 did.
- Read more: James Meredith's Admission to Ole Miss
Sit-Ins and Picketing
The civil rights movement was driven by small acts of courage.
- Read more: Lunch Counter Sit-Ins
The Freedom Rides
Despite facing violence, a few hundred activists confronted Southern governments--and won.
- Read more: The Freedom Rides
The Assassination of Medgar Evers
In 1963, the leader of the Mississippi NAACP was murdered.
- Read more: Biography of Medgar Evers
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The astonishing power of the American civil rights movement was made visible on one day in 1963.
- Read more: The March on Washington
Freedom Summer
In 1964, a group of activists traveled to Mississippi to register black citizens to vote.
- Read more: Freedom Summer
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act ended legal segregation in public accommodations, and with it the Jim Crow era.
- Read more: The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Voting Rights Act
Extensive "literacy tests" were used to discourage prospective black voters from registering, but the Voting Rights Act put a stop to them.
- Read more: Congress Renews Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
On April 4th, 1968, the leader of the American civil rights movement was murdered.
- Read more: The Conscience of the King
The Civil Rights Act of 1968
The last major Civil Rights Act officially banned housing discrimination.
- Read more: Are You a Victim of Housing Discrimination?