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American civil rights movement: Quick Facts

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Facts

Date c. 1955 - 1968
Location United States

Did You Know?

  • Desegregation in a high school in Arkansas by the Little Rock Nine required President Eisenhower to send the 101st Airborne Division to protect the children.
  • Television coverage of law enforcement officers beating peaceful protestors was effective in raising public awareness and in achieving legislative momentum.
  • The famous March on Washington was the largest U.S. civil rights protest.

Photos

March on Washington
Declaration of Independence
Nat Turner
William Lloyd Garrison
Frederick Douglass
Dred Scott decision
Abraham Lincoln campaign banner
Emancipation Proclamation
Booker T. Washington
W.E.B. Du Bois
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Related Topics and References

Topics
Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Timeline

George E.C. Hayes, Thurgood Marshall, and James Nabrit, Jr. smile together in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building.
Brown v. Board of Education
May 17, 1954
Rosa Parks sitting on a bus
Montgomery bus boycott
December 5, 1955 - December 20, 1956
Where the Greensboro sit-in happened
sit-in movement
1960 - 1961
Where the Greensboro sit-in happened
Greensboro sit-in
February 1, 1960 - July 1960
Blue and white pinback button reading Freedom Ride CORE.
Freedom Rides
May 4, 1961 - September 1961
March on Washington
March on Washington
August 28, 1963
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the 1964 Civil Rights Act at a desk in the White House, surrounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. and a group of witnesses.
Civil Rights Act
1964
Selma March
Selma March
March 21, 1965 - March 25, 1965
At night in Los Angeles, police officers in helmets and leather jackets search several young Black men who are lined up against storefronts with their hands on the wall.
Watts Riots of 1965
August 11, 1965 - August 16, 1965
Mildred and Richard Loving
Loving v. Virginia
June 12, 1967
Poor People's Campaign
Poor People’s Campaign
June 19, 1968

Key People

default image
Benjamin Mays
American activist and educator
default image
Henry MacNeal Turner
American civil rights leader and religious leader
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
American civil rights activist and religious leader
James Baldwin stands against a plain background in a dress shirt and tie, arms crossed, holding a cigarette, looking directly at the camera.
James Baldwin
American author
Pauli Murray
Pauli Murray
American civil rights activist, lawyer, and writer
Confident, compassionate, controversial
Jesse Jackson
American civil rights leader
W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois
American sociologist, historian, and activist
James Lawson
James Lawson
American minister and civil rights activist
Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth stands in a suit outside the heavily damaged remains of his house after a bombing, with collapsed roof and debris behind him, Montgomery, Alabama.
Fred Shuttlesworth
American minister and civil rights activist
Fred Hampton speaks into microphones at a rally outside the U.S. Courthouse, with Dr. Benjamin Spock standing behind him among a crowd and a protest sign partially visible.
Fred Hampton
American activist
Dovey Johnson Roundtree
Dovey Johnson Roundtree
American lawyer, activist, and military officer
Rosa Parks sitting on a bus
Rosa Parks
American civil rights activist
Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells
American journalist and social reformer
default image
John Oliver Killens
American writer and activist
John Lewis
John Lewis
American civil rights leader and politician
Mamie Till-Mobley
Mamie Till-Mobley
American educator and activist
Diane Nash
Diane Nash
American civil rights activist
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin
American civil rights activist
Claudette Colvin
Claudette Colvin
American antisegregation protester
default image
A.J. Muste
Dutch-born American clergyman

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Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Martin Luther King, Jr. (left of centre) and Malcolm X (right) waiting for a press conference, 1964.
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Martin Luther King, Jr. (center), with other civil rights supporters lock arms on as they lead the way along Constitution Avenue during the March on Washington, Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963.
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