INTERACTIVE EVENT GUIDE

Little Rock 9

Greensboro Sit-ins

MLK Assassination

Room 03

Kids' Civil Rights Musuem

Artifacts

The Man With The Dream

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Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. He led the movement nonviolently to help achieve equality and end segregation against blacks. He was the one who gave the famous "I Have A Dream" speech in Washington in 1963 to speak out against segregation and injustice against African Americans. However, he was assassinated on April 4th, 1968 at a hotel he was staying in in Memphis, Tennessee for a march he was supposed to lead there. He was only thirty nine years old. Today, we honor him by celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the third Monday of every January, which this year is January 15th. Imagine if he had lived? Do you think that African Americans would have gotten freedom sooner if Martin Luther King Jr. had still been alive?

MLK Assassination

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Montgomery Bus Boycott

The organization that arranged the Montgomery Bus Boycott was led by Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. really did a lot of things for the Civil Rights Movement didn't he? His efforts and achievements affect us still today!

The Selma Marches were held in Selma, Alabama to bring attention to the voting rights for African Americans which in the South measures had been taken to deny their rights. And people in the north probably didn't even know anything about it! Must have been pretty shocking for them.

Selma March Led By Martin Luther King Jr.

When Martin Luther King Jr arrived in Birmingham to fight against the segregation, he was arrested. Just for having a different opinion than others. Pretty maddening, huh?

Birmingham Mugshot

Artifacts

In 1954, the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling said that schools needed to desegregate. In Little Rock, Alabama there were two high schools: Dunbar High School for African Americans and Central High School for whites. The school district interviewed 80 black students and chose 9 out of the 80 to attend Central High School. These nine students became known as the Little Rock 9. On September 3, 1957 the Little Rock 9 came to Central High to go to school and were met with an angry mob instead. People got so angry at the thought of them going to Central High that it got to the point where Alabama's govorner, Faubus, ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the Little Rock 9 from attending Central High. The govorner was ordered to let the black students in on September 20, but he refused, and this prompted President Eisenhower to send 1,000 troops to take over the Arkansas National Guard to let the Little Rock 9 into the school on September 23, 1957. The troops stayed there for the rest of the school year and the high schools were closed completely in 1958-59. They opened back up in August of 1959, but all Little Rock schools were not integrated completely until 1971. That's shocking; that wasn't even that long ago!

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With Willpower, There's A Way

Little Rock 9

When the Little Rock 9 tried to go to Central High, people were outraged and had protests and resorted to violence. So many people got so angry at the thought of nine kids going to Central High. How do you think you would have reacted to those protests back then?

Troops were called to help the Little Rock 9 go to Central High and remained there for the whole school year of 1958-59. The tension and unease of going to school there and facing all those hateful people must have been really intense. That beats a lousy homework assignment.

Protest Against Little Rock 9

Escort To School

The nine students who were chosen to attend Central High. The nine kids who went through a whole year of insults and violence just to go to school. Makes your school day seem easy!

The Little Rock 9

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In 1960, 4 students sat down at a whites only lunch counter at a Woolworth's store. They were refused service, and an African American waitress even told them, “Fellows like you make our race look bad,” and wouldn’t serve them. But still they stayed, all the way until closing time. The next day, they came back and were joined by nineteen others. And the day after that, there were eighty five there at the counters. Some people quickly got angry, and even when they poured ketchup and mustard on the students’ heads, the students wouldn’t budge. They weren’t moving unless they were served or the police came and arrested and dragged them away. This inspired others around the South to stage sit-ins, not only at lunch counters, but also at segregated stores, supermarkets, libraries, and even public swimming pools. Students were always instructed to be friendly at all times, even when ketchup was being poured on their heads, and to not engage the aggressors. Soon business owners started to integrate their businesses because they didn’t want to lose money from customers and wanted peace. If you were a kid in the 1960s, would you have participated in the sit-ins? The people who did were really brave.

Artifacts

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Just By Sitting Down, They Sparked A Revolution

Greensboro Sit-ins

Join Us!

After the four students sat at the lunch counter, many people came to join them. A lot of people were inspired by the first four students. What if it was you sitting at that lunch counter? Would you have been able to just act friendly?

When sit-ins were in motion, police often times arrested participants. Here you can see a young boy being arrested for something he should be allowed to do. Times were really unfair.

As the students staged sit-ins, protests broke out in support of them. You can see the support that the sit- ins had. Imagine if stores weren't integrated in Greensboro. Can you imagine how history might be different?

Arrested

Protests For Students

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