 1962 – First Black student at Ole Miss (University of Mississippi)  A veteran, Meredith sued in Federal Court to attend Ole Miss and won  Governor Barnett, a segregationist, refused to enroll him  Barnett threatened to shut down Ole Miss but… that would mean no Football season!

 Meredith’s attorney was Medgar Evers, NAACP activist  President Kennedy ordered federal marshals to take Meredith to register  On Sept. 30, riots broke out that took thousands of soldiers 15 hours to stop › 2 deaths › 200 arrests  Meredith was accompanied by federal troops to class for the entire year

 Formed by King and other ministers in 1957  Goal to work for civil rights  Organized through churches for ordinary  Used nonviolent action for change  A “Grassroots” movement

 Formed 1960 at Shaw University  Student activist movement spread throughout college campuses  Wanted to aggressively target segregation  Led successful sit-ins

 Formed in 1942 in Chicago  Brought blacks and whites together to combat racism  In 1960’s led by James Farmer, Jr. (from the Great Debaters)  Freedom Riders of 1961 – major accomplishment

 Students from SNCC targeted lunch counters throughout the South at chain stores like Woolworth  Practiced non- violence, just sat until arrested or even attacked.

 National retail chains first said that “local customs” would be followed.  The US was shocked by the footage of sit- ins  Boycotts nationwide made the stores integrate their lunch counters.

 1961 – CORE activists, black and white, take bus trips across the south to test Supreme Court ruling banning segregation on interstate bus routes  Organized by James Farmer, Jr., CORE director (the young kid in the Great Debaters)

 Busses were attacked and exploded by angry mobs in Alabama.  Local law enforcement not only let this happen, they beat some Freedom Riders in Birmingham.  Freedom Riders on other busses who made it to Mississippi were arrested and sent to jail.

 Attorney General Bobby Kennedy insisted riders be taken to Montgomery where they were attacked again.  President Kennedy sent in US Marshals to accompany them.  Kennedy administration affirms Supreme Court decision and bans segregation in all interstate travel facilities.

 Dr. King, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and the SCLC targeted segregation in Birmingham, the most racially divided city in the South.  The campaign took place before Easter when boycotting stores would have a huge impact.  The SCLC wanted to show that Public Safety Commissioner and Mayoral Candidate Bull Connor would do anything to keep segregation.

 Non-Violent sit-ins were held that led to mass arrests.  Every time people were arrested, more came in their place.  King finally was arrested on Good Friday.  The nation noticed how harsh Birminigham was on protesters.

 In jail at Easter, Dr. King write the famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” outlining the purposes of the non- violent Civil Rights Movement. He was denied the right to see his attorney at first. President Kennedy and the nation were upset and called for change in Birmingham.

 Running low on demonstrators, Dr. King turned to schoolchildren, including elementary, to be trained in non- violence and march on downtown Birmingham.  May 2, thousands skipped school to march and 600 were arrested.  May 3, Bull Connor turned the dogs and hoses on the kids, creating a violent situation reporters saw as worse than any war.

 Birmingham was desegregated  Kennedy saw the need for a new Civil Rights law that would desegregate public accomodations nationwide.  The “March on Washington” was planned.

 August 28, 1963  250,000 people, including 75,000 whites  “I have a dream that one day the State of Alabama will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and walk together as sisters and brothers.”

 Banned Discrimination in Public Accommodations  Expanded Federal power to protect voting rights and speed up school desegregation  Established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to ensure fair treatment in employment  Signed by President Johnson after Kennedy’s assassination in order to continue his legacy

 Focus of Civil Rights Movement turns to Voting Rights  Blacks still subject to voter literacy tests  College students went south to register voters and encourage passage of Civil Rights Act  Subject to racial beatings and murders

 Eliminated Voter Literacy Tests  Enabled federal examiners to register voters  Johnson signs after seeing violence in Selma and realizing Federal support is critical