Civil Rights Movement Milestones

Civil Rights Movement Milestones

Civil Rights Movement Milestones. Fifty years ago this month, a group of activists called the Freedom Riders rode buses through the South to try to thwart segregation, but they faced violent consequences. Here’s a look at those riders and at other pivotal moments in the civil rights movement. 

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregated public schools unconstitutional. Which "separate but equal" ruling did it overturn?

Montgomery Bus Boycott

In December 1955, African-American residents of this Alabama city protested the segregated public bus system.

Little Rock Nine

In 1957, nine African-American students enrolled in a previously segregated Arkansas high school (now a landmark), but they were blocked from entering on their first day.

Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins

On Feb. 1, 1960, four African-American college students sat down at a retailer’s lunch counter in silent protest of segregated dining policies. The protest grew to include more students and other cities and stores

Freedom Riders

Starting in May 1961, civil rights activists began riding interstate buses throughout the South to expose discrimination that existed on buses despite a court ruling in favor of desegregation. The riders faced brutal opposition

March on Washington

On Aug. 28, 1963, civil rights groups staged a peaceful march that culminated at a D.C. landmark. There, Martin Luther King Jr. addressed thousands on behalf of his organization and delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.

Freedom Summer

In June 1964, Northern volunteers attempted a voter registration drive in Mississippi. The Ku Klux Klan and local authorities staged repeated attacks. Three of the volunteers disappeared.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

This bill outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or sex — including segregation in schools and public facilities.

Selma March of 1965

On March 7, 1965, hundreds of civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Ala., started a march to Montgomery to protest unfair voting practices, as well as the death of an unarmed local man.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed this act into law, outlawing discriminatory voting practices.