PEOPLE

Eugene "Bull" Connor

. Police chief in Alabama during anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, 1963

. Ordered police to use dogs, night sticks, fire hoses to break up demonstrations

. Images of violence symbolized brutal aspects of white resistance to black equality

Orval Faubus

. Democratic Governor of Arkansas from 1955 to 1967

. Opposed the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School, deploying National Guardsmen to block Supreme Court-ordered school integration in 1957

. Butted heads with President Dwight Eisenhower, who forced Faubus to comply

. 1958 Gallup Poll revealed that Americans picked him as one of "ten most admired men"

Charles Houston

. Leader of the NAACP legal team in the 1930s, mentor of Thurgood Marshall

. One of the first black lawyers to argue a case before the Supreme Court

. Successfully prosecuted the Supreme Court case Gaines v. Canada to force the University of Missouri to admit black applicant Lloyd Gaines

. Determined to prove that "separate but equal" doctrine of the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision was unconstitutional

Martin Luther King, Jr.

. Baptist pastor who became most prominent leader of the Civil Rights Movement

. As member of Montgomery Improvement Association, led the Birmingham Bus Boycott, 1955-1956

. Also launched series of protests against segregation in downtown Birmingham, 1963

. Served as one of the key organizers of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963

Thurgood Marshall

. First African American to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, 1967

. Key lawyer for the NAACP legal team in the 1940s and 1950s

. Helped pull together the five class action lawsuits that led to Supreme Court overturning school segregation in Brown v. Board

Rosa Parks

. Most familiar female icon of the Civil Rights Movement

. Arrested and jailed for refusing to give up her seat to white man on Montgomery city bus, 1955

. Member of NAACP at time of arrest; not the first black citizen to resist segregation laws in the South

. Inspired one-day bus boycott that led to year-long Montgomery Bus Boycott

Philip Randolph

. Leader of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a union of black railway workers

. Proposed March on Washington in 1941 to protest racial discrimination in war industries and in the military

. Cancelled the March when President Roosevelt agreed to sign Executive Order 8802

Emmett Till

. 14-year-old black boy murdered by two white men in Mississippi for whistling at a white woman, 1955

. Disturbing images of his mutilated corpse published in Jet magazine

. His murder inspired new, urgent fighting spirit that helped enlarge Civil Rights Movement

EVENTS

1938 Gaines v. Canada

. Supreme Court case regarding a black man, Lloyd Gaines, denied entrance into U of Missouri School of Law because of his race

. Court ruled in favor of Gaines and ordered his admission to U of Missouri

. NAACP's success provided momentum for later court battles against segregation

1941 Executive Order 8802

. Issued by President Franklin Roosevelt before the U.S. joined WWII

. Result of pressure from black civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph

. Banned discrimination in defense industries during wartime

. Increased job opportunities for racial minorities, especially blacks

1945 Truman Inaugurated

. Democratic Vice President Harry S. Truman became president after death of President Roosevelt

. Although his ancestors owned slaves, he committed himself to challenging Jim Crow

. Twice tried but failed to get Congress to pass an extensive civil rights program with national laws against lynching, equal access to education, and voter protection

. Issued Executive Order 9981, which desegregated armed forces, 1948

1954 Brown v. Board

. NAACP pulled together 5 class action lawsuits for this case

. Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were "inherently unequal"

. Court ordered desegregation of public schools, but no firm timeline for integration

. Ended half century in which segregation was accepted as law of the land

1955 Emmett Till Murdered

. Till, 14-year-old black boy, kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by two white men in Mississippi who claimed Till had whistled at one of their wives

. Killers acquitted of the crime by all-male, all-white jury one month later

. Images of Till's mangled corpse published nationwide

. Huge impact on African Americans; inspired many to fight for civil rights

1956 Victory in Montgomery Bus Boycott

. After nearly a year of protests, Supreme Court ordered an end to segregation on public transportation

. Boycott ended by vote by Montgomery Improvement Association

1956 Presidential Election

. Republican Dwight Eisenhower defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson

. Under Eisenhower, U.S. government passed first civil rights bill since 1875

. Eisenhower's term coincided with rise of the Civil Right Movement

. Though a conservative leader who didn't support full integration, Eisenhower did comply with Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board and deployed federal troops to enforce it

1960 Presidential Election

. Democrat John F. Kennedy defeated Republican Vice President Richard Nixon

. In his first State of the Union, JFK didn't mention civil rights struggles

. Moved slowly to introduce civil rights legislation

1963 Birmingham Strikes

. Series of non-violent anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, Alabama

. Launched by Martin Luther King, Jr.

. Police Chief Eugene "Bull" Connor ordered his department to use fire hoses, police dogs, and night sticks to break up demonstrations

. Images of the violent episodes broadcast worldwide, revealing severity of white resistance to black equality

1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

. Some 250,000 protesters gathered in Washington, D.C., August 1963

. Called for passage of a civil rights bill, a plan to reduce unemployment, and an increase in the national minimum wage

. Leaders and speakers included Martin Luther King, Jr. who delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech

. Inspired by A. Phillip Randolph's idea for a similar march in the early 1940s

GROUPS

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

. Civil-rights organization founded in the early 20^th century by prominent black leaders and white allies

. Its success in Gaines v. Canada provided momentum for later court battles against segregation laws

Women's Political Council

. Group of professional black women in Montgomery, Alabama

. Documented instances of blacks denied bus transfers, forced to pay extra fines, or verbally abused, assaulted, or arrested

. Leaders included Jo Ann Robinson, professor at all-black college

. Planned one-day bus boycott that grew into year-long Montgomery Bus Boycott

CONCEPTS

"Double V" Campaign

. Term coined by black leaders during World War II

. Described two-front battle blacks would have to fight for "victory over our enemies at home"—racism—"and victory over our enemies on the battlefields abroad"—fascism.

Freedom Rides

. Organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

. Black and white volunteers traveled on buses and trains in the South to challenge segregation laws

. Freedom Riders' buses bombed by angry whites opposed to integration

. In response, the Interstate Commerce Commission ordered all interstate transportation integrated, September 1961

Jim Crow

. Term first coined in 1830s, originally referred first to an exaggerated slave character played by white minstrel performer Thomas "Daddy" Rice

. By early 20^th century, term came to describe system of segregation that kept blacks and whites separate in public spaces

Sit-Ins

. Protest strategies used to demand equal access to public facilities

. Used by young civil rights activists beginning in 1960 to integrate Jim Crow parks, restaurants, pools, bowling alleys, libraries

"White Death"

. Term coined by black writer Richard Wright to describe white-on-black crime, especially lynching

. Most common in the years between the end of Radical Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement

PLACES

Birmingham, Alabama

. Site of Sheriff Bull Connor's violent suppression of peaceful civil rights demonstrations, 1963

Montgomery, Alabama

. Site of yearlong Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955-56

. Location of Martin Luther King's church