THE CHILDREN INVOLVED IN THE LANDMARK CIVIL RIGHTS LAWSUIT BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION, WHICH CHALLENGED THE LEGALITY OF AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL SEGREGATION: VICKI HENDERSON, DONALD HENDERSON, LINDA BROWN, JAMES EMANUEL, NANCY TODD, AND KATHERINE CARPER.
ELIZABETH ECKFORD ON HER FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. SHE WAS ONE OF THE NINE STUDENTS WHOSE INTEGRATION INTO LITTLE ROCK'S CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL WAS ORDERED BY A FEDERAL COURT FOLLOWING LEGAL ACTION BY NAACP.
SOME 100 CIVIL RIGHTS DEMONSTRATORS KEPT AN ALL-NIGHT VIGIL BEFORE THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION HALL IN AN ATTEMPT TO SEAT MEMBERS OF THE FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY ON AUGUST 24,.IN THE CENTER OF THE PICTURE IS RITA SCHWERNER, WIDOW OF MICHAEL SCHWERNER WHO WAS SLAIN NEAR PHILADELPHIA, MISSISSIPPI EARLIER THAT SUMMER.
ROSA PARKS SITTING IN THE FRONT OF A BUS IN MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, AFTER THE SUPREME COURT RULED SEGREGATION ILLEGAL ON THE CITY BUS SYSTEM ON DECEMBER 21ST, 1956.
FREEDOM RIDERS ON A GREYHOUND BUS SIT ON THE GROUND OUTSIDE THE BUS AFTER IT WAS SET AFIRE BY A GROUP OF WHITE PROTESTORS UPON THEIR ARRIVAL IN ANNISTON, ALABAMA.
In June 1963, President Kennedy introduced a civil rights bill and went on national television to say that the United States “will not be fully free until all of its citizens are free.” When he was assassinated on November 22, 1963, his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, took up the cause. “It took the assassination of Kennedy and Johnson wrapping himself in the mantle of Kennedy, claiming this is Kennedy’s legacy, to force through the Civil Rights Act in the Senate” says McKinney. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law on July 2, 1964, bringing King’s dream and the dreams of thousands of activists and allies one step closer to reality.
DEMONSTRATORS LINE THE COUNTER AT THE F.W. WOOLWORTH CO.
COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON, THE AUGUST 28, 1963 GATHERING BROUGHT OVER 200,000 PEOPLE TO THE NATION'S CAPITOL TO PROTEST RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND SHOW SUPPORT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION THAT WAS PENDING IN CONGRESS.