Foundations of Modern Civil Rights
This 1954 Supreme Court case declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson
Brown v. Board of Education
This city is home to the national memorial honoring 40 individuals killed during the Civil Rights Movement from 1955–1968.
What is Montgomery, Alabama?
Killed on the first day of the Selma to Montgomery marches, this white Unitarian minister traveled to Alabama to stand with Black citizens.
Who is Rev. James Reeb?
This 1954 ruling declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.
What is Brown v. Board of Education?
Often called the “architect” of the 1963 March on Washington, worked behind the scenes to protect the movement’s image.
Who is Bayard Rustin?
After the Brown ruling, many white Americans fought to preserve this, the way things were before desegregation.
What is the status quo
She was only 14 when she was murdered in 1963 outside a Birmingham church—one of the victims commemorated on the memorial.
Who is Addie Mae Collins?
Shot protecting Black marchers in Selma in 1965, this Detroit mother of five became the only white woman killed during the Civil Rights Movement.
Who is Viola Liuzzo?
This 1896 case established “separate but equal,” remaining the law of the land for nearly 60 years until it was overturned.
What is Plessy v. Ferguson?
Known for his fearlessness, this Birmingham minister survived bombings, beatings, and arrests while co-founding the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King Jr..
Who is Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth?
This span of years defines the era known as the Civil Rights Movement—one of the most transformative periods in American history.
What are 1955 to 1968?
These three civil rights workers—James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner—were killed during this 1964 campaign to register Black voters in Mississippi.
What is Freedom Summer?
These “40 martyrs” are grouped into three categories on the memorial: those killed in racial violence, those who died in organized activism, and those whose deaths followed this type of racially charged tragedy.
What are racially motivated murders?
In this 1944 case, the Supreme Court struck down Texas’ whites-only primary elections, expanding Black political participation.
What is Smith v. Allwright?
This teenager’s bravery during the 1957 desegregation of Little Rock Central High School—walking alone through a vicious mob—made her one of the most iconic young heroes of the movement.
Who is Elizabeth Eckford?
One wing of Civil Rights activists was influenced by religious teachings and the philosophy of this nonviolent world leader.
Who is Mahatma Gandhi?
Assassinated in 1963 in his own driveway, this Mississippi NAACP field secretary is among the 40 martyrs honored on the memorial.
Who is Medgar Evers?
In 1955, this NAACP organizer was murdered in Brookhaven, Mississippi after investigating the killing of Emmett Till; his death is one of the earliest entries connected to the memorialized timeline of Civil Rights martyrs.
Who is George W. Lee?
Decided in 1963, this case ruled that states must provide attorneys to criminal defendants who cannot afford one.
What is Gideon v. Wainwright?
Nicknamed “The Boycott’s Brain,” this professor crafted the legal strategy behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott and trained pastors and activists in nonviolent resistance.
Who is Jo Ann Robinson?
This state sent close to 90,000 Black servicemen to fight in World War II, many returning determined to demand equal rights.
What is Mississippi?
This 1955 murder of a 14-year-old boy from Chicago—one of the earliest names listed—became a spark that awakened the nation’s conscience.
Who is Emmett Till?
Killed in 1959 in Poplarville, Mississippi, this Black man was abducted from jail and lynched after being held on false charges; his death helped push national media to more closely cover racial terror across the South.
Who is Mack Charles Parker?
This 1958 decision protected the NAACP from being forced to turn over its membership lists, strengthening the right to free association for Civil Rights activists.
What is NAACP v. Alabama?
This NAACP field secretary in Mississippi courageously investigated racial terror cases for years—despite constant threats—and mentored the young activists who later led the Freedom Summer movement.
Who is Amzie Moore?