The Struggle for Civil Rights: A Time Line

Any hyperlinks in the time line will take you to a further explanation of the event.

1856-Booker T. Washington was born on April 5th

1861-1865 Civil War

-Slavery was abolished in the 1865

1896-Plessy vs Ferguson said blacks and whites should be separate but equal

1900-1919

-Movement of NAACP

-W E B. Dubois (1910) Made a powerful argument in favor of segregation

1920's-Lynching was not outlawed by Congress

1929 Martin Luther King Jr. born

1930's

1930's-Lynching was outlawed by Congress

-1935 Charles H. Houston represented the (NAACP)

1954: Movement and protests

First white citizens council meeting July 11th in Mississippi

Legal Work

Brown vs. Board of Education won May 17th

1955-Movement Protests

Montgomery Bus Boycott Dec. 5

Legal Work

Brown II May 31

ICC ban segregation on interstate travel Nov. 25

1956-Movement and Protests

Tallahassee Bus Boycott May 27

Legal Work

Autherine Lucy admitted to the University of Alabama Feb. 3

Alabama outlaws the (NAACP) June 1

Supreme Court rules on the bus desegregation Nov.13

Violence

Home of Martin Luther King Jr. Bombed Jan.30

1957-Movement and Protests

SCLC founded Jan.10-11

Prayer Pilgrimage May 17

Legal Work

First Civil Rights bill passed since 1875 Aug.29

1958-Legal Work

Cooper vs Aaron Sep.29

Violence

Martin Luther King Jr. stabbed in Harlem Sep.20

1959-Movement Protests

Prince Edwards County abandons segregation June 26

1960-Movement Protests

Greensboro sit-in Feb.1

SACC founded April 17

Legal Work

Civil Rights Act signed May 6

1961-Movement Protests

Civil Rights organizations meet with Robert Kennedy revolting June 16

Freedom Riders summer

November: Albany movement

Legal Work

Federal Court orders Hunter and Holmes to be admitted to the University of Alabama Jan.6

ICC desegregation ruling Sep. 27

1962-Movement Protests

JFK federalizes Mississippi troops Ole Miss Sep. 29

Violence

University of Mississippi

Ole Mississippi riot Oct.2

1963: Movement and Protests

Birmingham April-May

Wallace School House stand tunnel

JFK meeting with Civil Rights leaders March on Washington June 20

March on Washington Aug 28

Birmingham bombing Sept. 15

Legal Work

Centennial of Emancipation Proclamation Jan. 1

Violence

Medgar Evers killed June 12

JFK killed Nov. 22

1964-Movement and Protests

Saint Augustine March: June

Founding of MFDP April 26

Martin Luther King Senior awarded Nobel Prize Dec. 10

Legal Work

24th Amendment eliminated polling tax on federal elections Jan.23

Supreme Court ruling on Prince Edward County May 25

Johnson signs Civil Rights Bill July 2

Violence

Riots: New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and Philadelphia

Goodmen, Schwerner, and Chany killed June 21

1965- Movement-Protests

Selma Jan.-March

King meets with LBJ Feb.9

Legal Work

Voting rights act signed Aug. 6

{Violence}

Malcolm X killed Feb. 21

Reel dies Mar. 11

Watts riots Aug.11- 16

By: Donna W.
Chris P.
Tana D.

Sources: Eyes on the Prize Time line

Hartley, William, and Vincent, William, American Civics, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc, 1992

Kasher, Steven, The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History, New York: Abbeville Publishers. Year published not available.