Name ______________________
Challenges and Changes: Civil Rights Time Line
Date ____________
Section__________
Civil Rights
1. 1868: Civil Rights Amendments: to protect former slaves
13 abolished slavery
14 rights of citizens
15 right for black men to vote
(Voices pp. xvi)
Jim Crow Laws: system of laws and customs that support segregation and
Discrimination (Voices p1, poem p.32)
De facto segregation: segregation by unwritten custom or tradition
De jure segregation: segregation imposed by law
2. 1875: Civil Rights Act: ensure equal access to public facilities
3. 1896: Plessey V Ferguson: Homer Plessey v Louisiana State Judge
Plessey rode in a white railroad car
Supreme Court “Separate but equal” facilities are ok
(Post Gazette article in Voices p.8)
4. 1909: NAACP:
60 original members, only 7 black
Thurgood Marshall became the head counsel
5. 1919: Red Summer:
After WWI whites were resentful of having to compete with African Americans for
jobs
Summer of violence
44 African Americans lynched, 8 burned at the stake
(Voice poem p.29)
6. 1939: Marian Anderson:
Daughters of the American Revolution refused Marian to sing at Constitution Hall in DC
Eleanor Roosevelt member of D of AR
Easter Sunday Marian sings at Lincoln Memorial
Sings “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” and “My Country tis of Thee”
7. 1941: FDR bans segregation in the defense industries:
With encouragement from A. Philip Randolf (Black Porters Union)
Randolf told FDR of plans to march in DC to protest African Americans being kept
out of defense industry
8. 1944: CORE : Congress of Racial Equality
Use direct nonviolent methods to obtain civil rights
Founded by James Farmer
Started mostly in northern cities
9. 1947: Jackie Robinson:
Brooklyn Dodgers
National League Rookie of the Year
1st African American player
(Voices pp. 42-45)
Perform Play Jackie Robinson
10. 1948: Executive Order 9981:
Desegregation of the Military
Truman influenced by A. Philip Randolf
11. 1950: Supreme Court Cases: “Separate but Equal” challenged
Sweatt v Painter: Supreme court said Texas violated 14th amendment by establishing a
separate but unequal all black law school.
McLaurin v Oklahoma State Regents: Supreme court said Oklahoma violated
George McLuarin constitutional rights. He was admitted to University of Ok but denied
Access to Library, dining hall and classrooms
12. 1954: Brown v Board of Education: (see handout)
Topeka, Kansas
(See separate article)
13. 1955: Brown II:
Court called for implementation of Brown decision with “all deliberate speed”
14. 1955:
August:
Emett Till: 14 year old visiting cousins in Mississippi from Chicago
Killed for saying “by baby”
December: Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks
Martin Luther Kind chosen as spokesperson for boycott
Lasted 11 months
(video Rosa Parks)
15. 1956: Supreme Court Ruling on Montgomery Buses
The Montgomery law that said segregation on buses in Montgomery was ok was now
Illegal.
SCLC: Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Begun by Martin Luther king Jr and Ralph Abernathy to continue struggle for civil rights
Made up of mostly southern black ministers
Advocated nonviolent resistance to fight injustice
Organized Prayer Pilgrimage in 1957 in DC which helped convince Congress to pass
civil rights legislation
16. 1957: Civil Rights Act of 1957:
1st civil rights bill passed by Congress
President Dwight Eisenhower signed
Set up a Civil Rights Commission to investigate violation of civil rights
Gave the US Attorney General greater power to protect voting rights of African
Americans
Central High, Little Rock Arkansas: Students want to go to white high school
9 students volunteer to attend Central High
Arkansas Governor sends in National Guard to keep students out
Eisenhower sends in Federal troops to protect students
Prayer Vigil in Washington DC:
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Helped to convince Congress to pass civil rights legislation
17. 1960: Greensboro, North Carolina Sit In:
4 students refuse to get up from lunch counter
Woolworths
Initiates new group SNCC Students Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
John Fitzgerald Kennedy become President of USA
18. 1961: CORE Freedom Rides:
Transportation between states was subject to federal rather than state regulation
Supreme Court had ruled segregation on interstate buses and in waiting rooms was
Illegal
Test of Federal Government’s willingness to enforce laws
2 buses from DC to New Orleans/bombed and attacked
Police and state troopers were to protect riders
19. 1962: Desegregation order on “Ole Miss”:
James Meredith-US Air Force veteran-wants to attend all white Ole Miss
Court case helped by NAACP and Medgar Evers ordered Ole Miss to desegregate
Governor said NO to Meredith’s acceptance to University of Mississippi
Rioting –160 injured 2 killed
President Kennedy says “ ok to disagree with the laws but not to disobey them”
20. 1963:
April: SCLC protest in Birmingham, Alabama : most segregated city in south
King joins protest and goes to jail
(Kings quote text p. 929)
May: Children’s March in Birmingham, Alabama
Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor ordered use of police dogs and fire hoses
Children should march instead of adults-less repercussions
June: President Kennedy introduces new Civil Rights Bill:
Promises equal rights and equal opportunities
August: March on Washington
To convince government to follow through with promise of Civil Rights Bill
Led by A Philip Randolf (organizer of union of railroad porters 1925)
Controversial speech by John Lewis SNCC
“I have a Dream Speech” by MLK Jr.
(read picture book I Have a Dream)
September: Bomb in Birmingham, Alabama Church:
16th Street Baptist Church SCLC’s headquarters
November: President Kennedy Assassinated:
Lyndon Baines Johnson takes over as President
Southerner—influenced opinions and decisions
21. 1964:
January: 24th Amendment ratified:
Banned poll tax
Summer: Freedom Summer:
Major campaign for voter education and voter registration in southern states
Over 1000 volunteers went to Mississippi to get African Americans to register to vote
July: Civil Rights Act of 1964
1. banned segregation in public accommodations
2. gave fed government ability to compel state and local school boards o desegregate
3. gave Justice department power to prosecute individuals who violated people’s civil
rights
4. outlawed discrimination in employment on basis of race, color, sex, national origin
5. established the EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: enforced the
provisions of the act and investigated charges of job discrimination.
Little was done to enforce this Act
22. 1965:
March: Bloody Sunday in Selma Alabama:
SCLC organized march from Selma to Montgomery to pressure Federal
government to enact voting rights legislation
Turned violent
March happened days later with federal protection
August: Voting Rights Act:
Banned literacy tests (read example from Mighty times booklet)
Federal government oversees voter registration and elections in states that
discriminated against minorities
African American participation skyrocketed
August: Violence erupts in LA, Newark, Detroit
Many black still frustrated
Worst riot erupts in Watts, LA---National Guard restored order
43 people died, $50 million in damages in one summer
Blacks were using violence against police and white business owners in black areas
23. 1966: Kerner Commission Report: Determine causes of riots
determined that long time racial discrimination was #1 cause of violence
recommended that federal programs be established to help American urban ghettos
those against said that the federal spending would be rewarding the rioters
Black Power:
1. Rioting goes along with how some blacks are feeling/something other than
nonviolence
2. Malcolm X
Malcolm Little—slave name
Drugs/crime led to jail time
Converted to Nation of Islam in jail—strict separation of races
Became prominent minister out of jail
Left Nation of Islam and created his own religion—somewhat accepting of whites
Shot and killed
3. African Americans are starting to question goal of integration “Be white/live like white
4. Stokely Carmichael-Black Power
Black power means blacks should use their economic and political means to achieve
equality
Some whites associated Black Power with Black Violence
5. Huey Newton and Bobby Seale created Black Panthers-young militant African
American group
Protect their people against police abuse
Create anti poverty programs
Sometimes led to clashes with police
24. 1967: Thurgood Marshall appointed first African American Supreme Court Justice
25. 1968:
April: Martin Luther King to Memphis, Tennessee “Poor Peoples Campaign”
King disagreed with Malcom x’s methods
King went to Memphis to pressure govt to do more for poor
James Earl Ray shoots and kills King---Turning point in civil rights movement
2 months later Robert Kennedy assassinated
Fair Housing Act:
Banned segregation in housing
Effects of Civil Rights Movement
1. eliminated de jure segregation
2. knocked down barriers to African American voting and political participation
3. African American poverty levels fell
4. African American median income levels rose
5. Number of African Americans that graduated from high school rose
Issues Remain:
Forced Busing: Federal courts ordered the use of forced busing to achieve
desegregated schools.
President Johnson
Affirmative Action: forced employers to make a deliberate effort to hire blacks and other
minorities to close the economic gag
President Nixon
Reverse discrimination
Went against creating a “color blind” society