Civil Rights Museum Project

History of Civil Rights Museum

By Camille & Haizley

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Room 01

Little Rock 9

March on Washington

Freedom Riders

Birmingham, 1963

Selma Marches

Greensboro Sit-ins

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, the US was in a constant battle over segregation. In this museum, you will see brave men, women, and children standing up for what they believe in. Whether that be segregation in schools, buses, or the voting box, Blacks faced all kinds of challenges in the South.

Room 01

Little Rock 9

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One of the young women chosen tried walking to school and was met by a mob.

The 9 chosen kids had to be escorted into school by State Troopers.

The 9 schoolchildren chosen to integrate into Centeral High.

In September of 1957, the NAACP chose 9 schoolchildren who went to the black high school to integrate into Central High, the white high school. When the kids showed up to school they were met by white parents that yelled at them and didn't want them to center the school. It got so bad that state troopers had to escort the 9 into school. The disaster at Little Rock Arkansas showed just how divided everyone was on the matter of segregation in schools.

The peacful protestors had food and drinks poured on them by an angry crowd. They remained calm and didn't fight back.

Room 02

Greensboro Sit-Ins

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The group of protestors grew every day until the lunch counters were full of people.

The stools the orginal 4 protestors sat on.

In Greensboro in February 1960, South Carolina, four college kids went to a lunch counter and waited to be served, which was against the law. Day after day, they returned, bringing more people with them until the entire lunch counter was full of protesters. After a while the town of Greensboro realized they were losing money and decided to desegregate all public facilities. The Greensboro sit-ins led to college kids being a part of protests for years to come.

Room 03

Selma Marches

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A line of protestors that stretches back as far as can see.

State Troopers met protestors at Edmund Pettus Bridge. Violence ensued and the protestors ended up abandoning the march.

Protestors brought giant banners, signs, and protestors on their march to Montgomery.

Protestors gathered in Selma, Alabama, in March of 1965 and tried to march to Montgomery, Alabama, 54 miles away. It took two attempts before it finally worked, as they were met by state troopers the first two times. On the third and final march, they were protected by Alabama's National Guard and FBI agents. This march shed light on the fact that Black before couldn't vote in Mongomery. The Voting Rights Act of 1963 was passed because of this.

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Room 04

Birmingham 1963

Tons of kids left school just to march for freedom and equality through the streets of Birmingham, Alabama.

About 600 children were handcuffed and put into the back of cop cars.

Firefighters brought firehoses and shot them at children which led to many injuries and deaths.

People in the South were starting to get scared and didn't know who else could march and fight for freedom. On May 2, 1963, they came to the decision that kids all over Birmingham were going to leave school and march through the streets. Tons of kids showed up and the march started. People started getting angry, and the police and firefighters showed up and started blasting firehoses at the children. They ended up detaining over 600 kids and this brought people to see what was happening throughout the US. People began to get mad, because they finally got to see what was happening to Black across America.

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Room 05

Freedom Riders

The people on the bus were extremely determined to be fighting for this good cause.

This picture shows how passionate they were about this trip and how happy they were at the start to do this to make a change.

The riders were arrested and put into jail because they went against segregation laws.

On May 4, 1961, a group of diverse individuals came together to see how bad segregation really was. They started in Washington D.C. and made their way down to the South. Everything was going smoothly until they got to Anniston, Alabama. Their bus was bombed by the KKK and they had to cut their trip short on December 10, 1961.

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Room 06

Marching On Washington - "I Have a Dream"

Tons of people marched down Washington with many different signs for many different reasons.

Over 250,000 people came to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak.

He did the speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial to make a bigger point.

On August 28, 1963, MLK Jr. made a speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Over 250,000 people showed up to hear him speak. He had a whole speech planned, but he decided to make a new one on the spot because he knew it would have more impact. This speech, "I Have a Dream", will go down in history for one of the most famous speeches in world history.