Curated atlas · Social Justice

American Civil Rights Movement

Two decades of courage, sacrifice, and legal transformation that dismantled Jim Crow and reshaped American democracy.

21 years

1,092 blocks

23 events

6 stages

1 block = 1 week · 1 row = 52 weeks21y · 1,092 blocks

1950

1955

1960

1965

1970

Stages

Timeline ledger

Chronicle

23 events · 6 stages

Legal groundwork

5y 48w

Jan 1, 1950 → Nov 27, 1955

Brown v. Board of Education

May 16, 1954

Murder of Emmett Till

Aug 28, 1955

Nonviolent resistance rises

4y 10w

Nov 27, 1955 → Jan 31, 1960

Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat

Nov 27, 1955

Montgomery Bus Boycott succeeds

Dec 16, 1956

Little Rock Nine

Sep 1, 1957

Sit-ins, Freedom Rides, direct action

3y 30w

Jan 31, 1960 → Aug 25, 1963

Greensboro sit-ins

Jan 31, 1960

Freedom Rides begin

Apr 30, 1961

James Meredith enrolls at Ole Miss

Sep 30, 1962

Birmingham Campaign begins

Mar 31, 1963

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Apr 14, 1963

Medgar Evers assassinated

Jun 9, 1963

Landmark legislation

1y 49w

Aug 25, 1963 → Aug 1, 1965

March on Washington

Aug 25, 1963

16th Street Baptist Church bombing

Sep 15, 1963

Mississippi Freedom Summer

Jun 14, 1964

Civil Rights Act signed

Jun 28, 1964

Malcolm X assassinated

Feb 21, 1965

Bloody Sunday — Selma

Mar 7, 1965

Black Power & urban unrest

2y 36w

Aug 1, 1965 → Apr 7, 1968

Voting Rights Act signed

Aug 1, 1965

Watts riots

Aug 8, 1965

Black Panther Party founded

Oct 9, 1966

MLK's 'Beyond Vietnam' speech

Apr 2, 1967

Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated

Mar 31, 1968

Legacy & continuation

2y 38w

Apr 7, 1968 → Dec 27, 1970

Fair Housing Act signed

Apr 7, 1968

Want to build your own?

Create a personal atlas to lay out a life, trace a project, or keep any long span visible.

Create an atlas