Visual History of the Civil Rights Movement

Montgomery Bus Boycott- 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested on Dec. 1, 1955. She spent 2 hours in jail and was fined $100. Civil rights leaders organized a bus boycott. Blacks were ¾ of bus passengers in Montgomery. It lasted almost a year. Some residents walked 34 miles a day to avoid the bus. In 1956 the Supreme Court ordered an end to segregated buses.

The Sit-in Movement- Greensboro 1960 Four freshmen sat at a “whites only” Woolworth’s lunch counter to protest segregation. They were joined by 19 other students and later over 400 students conducted “sit-ins” or “sit- downs” at various Greensboro stores. SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) was formed to organize student protests. Gradually lunch counters were integrated.

Freedom Rides- 1961 CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)sent freedom riders on a bus trip from Washington DC to New Orleans to protest segregated buses. One bus was firebombed in Alabama. Riders were beaten when they exited the bus. When violence became extreme in Mississippi, federal troops were called in to escort them.

Birmingham: Demonstrations 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. planned massive demonstrations in Birmingham because its police commissioner was an extremist. He knew Eugene “Bull” Conner would violently attack protesters. Over 150 protesters were arrested the first week. He hoped to get JFK to publically support the Civil Rights Movement. King’s violent arrest resulted in vocalized federal support.

Birmingham:The Children’s Marches- 1963 Children, aged 6 to 16 marched singing “ We Shall Overcome”. Over 600 were thrown into jail. Fire hoses and dogs were let loose on the children. Hollywood stars and JFK supported the protesters. Ultimately, Birmingham was integrated.

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing- 1963 A few months after the Children’s Marches a KKK member planted a bomb in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, killing four girls. The killings sparked violence throughout the city.

March on Washington-1963 Civil rights leaders organized protesters to march on Washington to support the passage of civil rights legislation. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I have a dream” speech at this event.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 1964 Civil Rights Act On June 10, 1964, civil rights supporters in the United States Senate successfully overcame a Southerner filibuster and set the stage for Congress to enact the most significant civil rights bill in American history. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 integrated restaurants, hotels, motels, swimming pools and other public places. It provided for equal opportunities in the workplace, for women as well as racial, religious and ethnic minorities.

Freedom Summer- 1964 Around 1000 volunteers spent the summer holding classes and going door-to- door to help residents learn how to register to vote. Volunteers were beaten, shot and thrown in jail. Three workers were killed. Their story was depicted in the movie Mississippi Burning. Over 63,000 black voters were registered.

“Bloody Sunday”: Selma to Montgomery-1965 Only 300 of 15,000 blacks were registered to vote in Selma, Alabama. The SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) organized a 50 mile march from Selma to Montgomery to protest. As the 600 marchers crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge, police used billy clubs and tear gas against the marchers. Viewed on TV, the march was repeated successfully with the support of the FBI and National Guard.

Voting Rights Act of 1965 1965 Voters Rights Act After many acts of violence against voting- rights activists, including the recent attacks on marchers in Selma, President Johnson and Congress passed effective voting rights legislation. The act ended literacy tests and allowed voter registration by federal officers. By 1968 nearly 60 percent of eligible blacks in Mississippi were registered to vote. Between 1965 and 1990, black members of Congress rose from 2 to 160.