The Civil Rights Movement1954 to 1963

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - Washington D.C. 1963

1954:Brown v. Board of Education

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that separate but equal schools are unconstitutional.Many School Boards ignore the decision.

Dorothy Counts, age 15, entering Harding High School in Charlotte, North Carolina.One of four black students to desegregate Charlotte's public schools.

After four days of harassment that threatened her safety,her parents forced her to withdraw from the school.

1955:Montgomery Bus Strike

Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a full bus to a white person.She is arrested for violating the segregation law on bus seating.

The beginning of the Civil Rights Movement

In response to Rosa Parks arrest, as well as bus segregation, thousands of Montgomery's African Americans refused to ride the bus. For 381 days

they either walked to work or shared rides when possible.

On November 13, 1956 the bus strikers’ win; The US Supreme Court rules bus segregation is illegal.

Montgomery's African Americans return to the nearly bankrupt Municipal Buses

1957:Desegregation at Little Rock

In response to the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Little Rock School Boardannounced that it would voluntarily desegregate Little Rock Central High.

The first 9 African American students to attend were escorted by the U.S. Army.

Despite continued harassment, in 1958 ElizabethEckford became the first African American tograduate from Little Rock Central High School.

On September 23, about 1,000 people gathered in front of the school to protestthe desegregation and prevent the African American students from entering.

The 9 students continued to receive Army, and then Police, escorts.

1960:Sit-in Campaign

In February 1960 four African American college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, refused to leave a whites-only lunch counter at which they were denied service. In just two months

the sit-in movement spread to 54 cities in 9 states.

Although the sit-ins were non-violent, the protestors in somecases faced sever harassment:

The 1960 sit-in campaign succeeded in onceagain bringing racial segregation to the

Nation’s attention.

1961:Freedom Rides

In 1961, bus loads of people waged a cross-country campaign to try to endthe segregation of bus terminals.

Reaction to the freedom rides in some areas was extremely violent -

- causing the U.S. Army to escortthe buses through some Cities.

1962:Mississippi Riot

President Kennedy ordered Federal Marshals to escort James Meredith,the first African American student to enroll at the University of

Mississippi, to campus.

Mr. Meredith’s attendance led to a riot which involved 536 Law EnforcementOfficers. The riots continued until President Kennedy ordered 16,000 Army

troops to stop the violence. In the end 2 students were killed, 160 were injured, and 28 Law Enforcement Officers were shot.

1963:March on Washington

In August, over 250,000 people come to Washington D.C. to promote civil rights.The march on Washington remains the largest civil rights demonstration to date.

Americans of all races and ages, and from every corner of the United States, participated in this peaceful demonstration.

At the March on Washington Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his famous speech "I Have a Dream."

1963:Birmingham

On Sunday morning, September 15, separatists bombed Birmingham’s SixteenthStreet Baptist Church, a known meeting place for civil rights advocates.

Four little girls, ages 11 to 14, attending Sunday School were killed. This violent act shocked the Nation.

By the end of the day, riots and fires had broken out throughout Birminghamand another 2 African American teenagers were dead. The police respondedby setting dogs and fire hoses on the rioters, many of whom were children.

This further focused the Nation’s attention on the civil rights

movement.