EOTO - Events of the Civil Rights Era

There were many important events that shaped the outcome of the Civil Rights Movement. One of the most famous, and nearby, events to happen was the Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-In. On February 1, 1960 college students refused to leave a diner when they were asked to leave. They were arrested and this sparked a youth-led movement for racial equality in the South. This event forced establishments to change their segregation policies.

"Bloody Sunday" took place on March 7, 1965. A crowd of nearly 600 marchers were violently overpowered by deputies and tear gas. This event contributed to the passage of a Violent Rights Act that same year.

Freedom Riders were a group of African Americans rode on buses starting in Washington D.C. This movement was organized by the Congress of Racial Equality. Starting on May 4, 1961, these buses drove activists throughout the South where the activists would try to use "white only" lunch counters, restrooms, terminals, etc. This movement started getting violent the farther south they went until a violent mob attacked them in Alabama, putting a halt to the movement when the bus drivers refused to drive any farther.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a protest led by Martin Luther King, Jr. African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama to protest the segregated busses. This boycott lasted from December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956. This was the first-large scale United States demonstration against segregation.