The Civil Rights Movement 1947-1968
Jackie Robinson breaks the color line in major league baseball. April 1947
To Secure These Rights, the report by the President’s Committee on Civil Rights is released. The committee calls for the elimination of segregation. October 29, 1947
President Harry S Truman issues an executive order desegregating the armed forces. July 26, 1948
In Brown v. Board of Education the Supreme Court declares separate facilities “inherently unequal.” May 17, 1954
Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person; the action triggers a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, led by Martin Luther King, Jr. December 1, 1955
MLK, Jr. and a number of southern black clergymen create the Southern Christian Leadership Conference or SCLC. January 11, 1957
On the orders of Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, Arkansas National Guardsmen block 9 black students from entering Central High School. September 4, 1957
Sit-in campaigns by college students in St Sit-in campaigns by college students in St. Louis, Chicago, Bloomington, ID, and Nashville help to desegregate eating facilities. Feb. 1, 1960: Woolworth’s lunch counter 1959-1960
April 1960 Ella Baker Stokely Carmichael The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is formed in Raleigh, NC. Ella Baker Stokely Carmichael April 1960
Birmingham police chief Eugene “Bull” Connor turns police dogs and fire hoses against nonviolent demonstrators. King composes his Letter from Birmingham City Jail. 1963
Over 250,000 Americans gather at the Lincoln Memorial to urge the passage of civil rights legislation and hear MLK, Jr. deliver his “I have a dream speech.” Malcolm X dismisses the march as “the Farce on Washington.” Speech August 28, 1963
SNCC and CORE work to register thousands of black voters. Three civil rights works Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney are murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi. “Freedom Summer” 1964
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits discrimination in most public accommodations. MLK, Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. 1964
Malcolm X is assassinated while addressing a rally of his followers in NYC. Three black men are ultimately convicted of his murder. February 21, 1965
“Bloody Sunday” 600 marchers outside Selma, Alabama are attacked by state troopers with nightsticks and tear gas. March 7, 1965
President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which outlaws literacy tests and empowers the Justice Department to supervise federal elections in seven southern states. August 6, 1965
H. Rap Brown Stokely Carmichael replaces John Lewis as chairman of SNCC. SNCC votes to exclude whites from membership SNCC 1966 John Lewis
The Black Panther Party (BPP) is founded in Oakland California. October 1966
Rioting in the black ghetto of Newark, NJ leaves 23 dead and 725 injured. Newark: July 1967
Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee, precipitating riots in more than 100 cities. April 4, 1968