1948
July 26
Truman signs Executive Order 9981, which states, "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin."

Reference Link:
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April
(Raleigh, N.C.) The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is founded at Shaw University, providing young blacks with a place in the civil rights movement. The SNCC later grows into a more radical organization, especially under the leadership of Stokely Carmichael (1966–1967).

Reference Link:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html

Video Link:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C6L1Hyoh3rY

James Meredith becomes the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Violence and riots surrounding the incident cause President Kennedy to send 5,000 federal troops.

Reference Link:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html

Jan. 23
The 24th Amendment abolishes the poll tax, which originally had been instituted in 11 southern states after Reconstruction to make it difficult for poor blacks to vote.


Reference Link:
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Aug. 10
Congress passes the Voting Rights Act of 1965, making it easier for Southern blacks to register to vote. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and other such requirements that were used to restrict black voting are made illegal.

Reference Link:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html

Aug. 11–17, 1965
(Watts, Calif.) Race riots begin to erupt often in the black sections of Los Angeles.

Reference Link:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html

Video Link:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o54n7HXwOhc

2006
January 30
Coretta Scott King dies of a stroke at age 78.



Reference Link:
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May 10
James Bonard Fowler, a former state trooper, is indicted for the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson 40 years after Jackson's death. The 1965 killing lead to a series of historic civil rights protests in Selma, Alabama.


Reference Link:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html

April 11

President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.

Reference Link:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html

April 4
(Memphis, Tenn.) Martin Luther King, at age 39, is shot as he stands on the balcony outside his hotel room. Escaped convict and committed racist James Earl Ray is convicted of the crime.



Reference Link:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html