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The following are major events of the Civil Rights
Movement taken from Claudia Durst Johnson's
Understanding To Kill A Mockingbird. Certain events
will have corresponding QuickTime movies which may be
downloaded and viewed. In order to download and view these
clips you will need to have a QuickTime plug-in which may be
obtained from
http://www.quicktime.apple.com/sw/sw.html.
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May 17, 1954
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United States
Supreme Court rules in Brown vs. Board of Education
of Topeka, Kansas, that racial segregation in the
public schools is inherently unequal and,
therefore, illegal. (1.9 MB)
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Dec. 1, 1955
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Rosa Parks is
arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a
Montgomery city bus. (1 MB)
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Dec. 6, 1955
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Boycott of Montgomery city buses begins
officially.
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January 1956
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Autherine
Lucy receives a letter granting her permission to
enroll for classes at the University of Alabama in
Tuscaloosa. (4.4 MB)
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Jan. 30, 1956
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The home of Martin Luther King, Jr., is bombed
in Montgomery. King is a leader in the boycott and
its designated spokesman.
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Feb. 1, 1956
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Motions are filed in U.S. District Court calling
for an end to bus segregation.
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Feb. 4, 1956
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Violence erupts on the campus of the University
of Alabama and in the streets of Tuscaloosa. it
continues for three days.
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Feb. 11, 1956
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Autherine Lucy is forced to flee the campus; the
university's Board of Trustees bars her from
campus.
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Feb. 22, 1956
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Warrants are issued for the arrest of 115
leaders of the Montgomery bus boycott.
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Feb. 29, 1956
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Autherine Lucy is ordered by the courts to be
readmitted to the university, only to be expelled
by the Board of Trustees.
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Nov.13, 1956
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United States Supreme Court decides in favor of
Montgomery bus boycotters, by ruling bus
segregation illegal.
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Dec. 21, 1956
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African-Americans first board buses in
Montgomery, Alabama, according to a first-come,
first-served basis.
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Sept. 1957
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Federal troops
are sent to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce
court-ordered desegregation of schools. (918 K)
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Fall 1960
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Publication of To Kill a Mockingbird.. In North
Carolina, an attempt is made to integrate lunch
counters in Greensboro.
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1961
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Freedom Riders
attempt to test desegregation in the deep South.
Violence necessitates the deployment of federal
troops. (1.6 MB)
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Sept. 1961
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An attempt is
made to integrate the University of Mississippi.
Lives are lost in the violence that ensues.
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Sept. 15, 1963
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Four children die
when the church they are attending is bombed in
Birmingham. (poem)
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May 9, 1992
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Autherine Lucy receives her Masters degree in
education from the University of Alabama in
Tuscaloosa. A portrait of her is unveiled in
Ferguson Center, the busiest building on campus.
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Johnson, Claudia Durst.
Understanding To Kill A Mockingbird.
The Greenwood Publishing, Inc.
Wesport, CT:©1994.
Historical Archives | The Mockingbird
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