The Civil Rights Movement 1954 to 1963

1. The Civil Rights Movement 1954 to 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - Washington D.C. 1963

2. 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.

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

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

5. 1955: Montgomery Bus Strike The beginning of the Civil Rights Movement 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 1957: Desegregation at Little Rock In response to the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Little Rock School Board announced that it would voluntarily desegregate Little Rock Central High. The first 9 African American students to attend were escorted by the U.S. Army.

9. On September 23, about 1,000 people gathered in front of the school to protest the desegregation and prevent the African American students from entering. The 9 students continued to receive Army, and then Police, escorts. Despite continued harassment, in 1958 Elizabeth Eckford became the first African American to graduate from Little Rock Central High School.

10. 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.

11. Although the sit-ins were non- violent, the protestors in some cases faced sever harassment: The 1960 sit-in campaign succeeded in once again bringing racial segregation to the Nation’s attention.

12. 1961: Freedom Rides In 1961, bus loads of people waged a cross-country campaign to try to end the segregation of bus terminals.

13. Reaction to the freedom rides in some areas was extremely violent - - causing the U.S. Army to escort the buses through some Cities.

14. 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.

15. Mr. Meredith’s attendance led to a riot which involved 536 Law Enforcement Officers. 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.

16. 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.

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

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

19. 1963: Birmingham On Sunday morning, September 15, separatists bombed Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street 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.

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

21. This further focused the Nation’s attention on the civil rights movement.