Civil Rights Movement Timeline

📋 Course Outline

1. Legal Beginnings and School Integration
2. Montgomery and Direct Action
3. Federal Protection and Transportation
4. Leaders and Core Vocabulary

📅 Key Dates

1. 1954The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, marking the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement.
2. December 1, 1955Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, was arrested, and triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
3. 1957Nine African American students attempted to attend Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas, faced strong opposition, and were protected by federal troops sent by President Eisenhower to ensure school integration.
4. 1957President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first federal civil rights law since Reconstruction, which aimed to protect African Americans’ voting rights.
5. 1960Four African American students sat at a “whites only” lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, refused to leave, and inspired similar peaceful demonstrations across the country.
6. 1961Black and White activists rode interstate buses together through the South as Freedom Riders to challenge segregation, and their actions helped end…