Topic: Black Civil Liberties

Mar 6,

1857

“A Constitutional Evil:” The Dred Scott Decision

Jan 1,

1863

President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation Takes Effect

Feb 3,

1870

Fifteenth Amendment, Guaranteeing Right to Vote, is Ratified

Feb 12,

1909

NAACP Founded – Civil Rights Crusade Begins

Mar 17,

1912

Bayard Rustin, Civil Rights Activist, is Born

Feb 4,

1913

Happy Birthday Rosa Parks!

Apr 11,

1913

President Wilson Segregates Federal Agencies

Oct 26,

1921

President Harding Gives Civil Rights Message in Segregated Birmingham, Alabama

Feb 7,

1926

“Negro History Week” First Celebrated

Jan 15,

1929

Martin Luther King, Jr. is Born

Feb 21,

1940

Civil Rights Leader and U.S. Representative John Lewis is Born in Troy, Alabama

Jan 14,

1941

A. Philip Randolph Calls For a March on Washington

Apr 17,

1943

First Sit-in Challenges Segregated Washington D.C. Restaurants

Apr 3,

1944

Supreme Court Declares All-White Primary Unconstitutional

Oct 18,

1944

Irene Morgan Convicted of Integrating Virginia Bus – Inspires Later Freedom Rides

Feb 12,

1946

Isaac Woodard, African-American Veteran, Beaten, Blinded in South Carolina; Incident Provokes National Outrage

Apr 27,

1946

Civil Rights Congress Formed

Apr 9,

1947

The First Freedom Ride: Journey of Reconciliation Begins

Jan 12,

1948

Supreme Court Requires Oklahoma to Provide Equal Law School Opportunity for African-Americans

Mar 30,

1948

A. Philip Randolph Threatens to Advise Young African-American Men Not to Register for a Segregated Draft

Apr 8,

1948

Southern Leaders Attack President Truman’s 1948 Civil Rights Speech

Jun 8,

1953

Supreme Court Orders Desegregation of Washington, D.C. Restaurants

Jan 20,

1955

Sit-ins Integrate Baltimore Lunch Counters at Read’s Stores

Mar 2,

1955

Nine Months Before Rosa Parks: Four African-American Women Challenge Discrimination on Montgomery, Alabama, Bus

May 17,

1957

“Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom:” 1957 Civil Rights March on Washington

Sep 23,

1957

Segregationist Mob Blocks School Integration in Little Rock

May 13,

1958

Jackie Robinson Denounces President Eisenhower’s Weak Leadership on Civil Rights

Jul 19,

1958

1958 Wichita Sit-In Challenges Segregation

Jan 24,

1960

A. Philip Randolph Calls for Mass Movement; Sit-Ins Begin a Week Later

Feb 1,

1960

Greensboro, NC Sit-In — Civil Rights Struggle Enters Historic New Phase

Feb 13,

1960

Nashville Students Begin Sit-ins

Mar 15,

1960

Julian Bond Leads Atlanta’s First Sit-In

Apr 15,

1960

SNCC Founded by Sit-In Leaders

Jan 9,

1961

Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes, First African-Americans to Enroll at University of Georgia

Apr 2,

1963

Supreme Court Invalidates Virginia Anti-NAACP Laws, Upholds Lawyers’ Activism

Apr 12,

1963

Martin Luther King Arrested in Birmingham Demonstration: Writes Famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

Apr 16,

1963

Martin Luther King, Jr., Writes Famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

May 3,

1963

Fire Hoses and Police Dogs Attack Birmingham Civil Right Demonstrators

Jun 11,

1963

George Wallace “Stands in the Schoolhouse Door” to Block Integration; Then Steps Aside

Mar 25,

1964

LBJ Lectures Southern Ministers on Need for Civil Rights Bill

Apr 3,

1964

Malcolm X Gives Famous “The Ballot or the Bullet” Speech in Cleveland

Apr 26,

1964

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Founded

Mar 7,

1965

“Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama: John Lewis, Other Marchers Beaten and Tear Gassed

Mar 15,

1965

“We . . . Shall . . . Overcome:” LBJ Gives Historic Voting Rights Speech

Apr 27,

1965

SCOPE Voter Registration Drive Launched

Jan 9,

1967

Civil Rights Leader Julian Bond Sworn in as Georgia State Legislator

Jan 23,

1967

Georgia’s Jury System Declared Discriminatory

Apr 3,

1968

King’s Final Speech: “I Have Been to the Mountaintop”

Jan 22,

1971

Congressional Black Caucus Boycotts President Nixon’s State of the Union Address

Jan 24,

1993

Civil Rights Giant Thurgood Marshall Dies

Mar 16,

1995

Mississippi Ratifies 13th Amendment, 130 Years Late – But It’s Not Official

Jun 13,

2005

Senate Apologizes for Never Passing Anti-Lynching Law

Mar 18,

2008

“A More Perfect Union:” Obama’s 2008 Great Speech on Race at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia

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