Civil Rights Movement
Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American, was brutally shot, lynched, and drowned in 1955. The white murderers were acquitted while Till’s mother requested for Till’s casket to be displayed at his funeral, sparking the civil rights movement.
Mamie Till Grieves Over Son's Murder, 1955, David Jackson
Two Mississippians Acquitted In Emmett Till Murder, September 24, 1955, Daily News
Nation Shocked By Emmett Till Murder, 1955, Chicago Defender
The passage of the Civil Rights Act secured a victory of the civil rights movement, which declared that suppression of voting rights would be punishable under federal law.
Eisenhower Stands with Martin Luther King Jr. And Civil Rights Activists, September 9, 1957, Getty Images
Eisenhower Signs The Civil Rights Act of 1957, September 9, 1957, National Archives
African-Americans still faced discrimination despite progress. In 1960, four Black college students were not served at a Woolworth’s lunch counter while white vigilantes threw mugs at them. Ultimately, the owners served African-Americans after the restaurant boycott.
Sit-in Demonstration at a Woolworth’s Lunch Counter, May 28, 1963, Associated Press
Civil Rights student leaders from all over the South at Atlanta University in May of 1960 to meet with Martin Luther King on desegregation strategy and organizing sit-ins., 1960, Getty Images
