INTERACTIVE EVENT GUIDE

the childens museum of civl rights

Ella Hartman

Greensboro sit-ins

civil rights legislation

Freedom Riders

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Greensboro sit-ins

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In Greensboro, North Carolina everyone was welcome to shop in the local grocery store but only white people were allowed to eat at the lunch counter. Four local college students were tired of this rule and one day they decided to sit down at the counter and not leave till they got served. They were refused service but they just sat there till closing and promised they were going to come back the next day. By the next day, the protesters had more than doubled as people were hearing what was happening. They came back day after day and their numbers grew every day. There were also people who came just to yell at them and people poured things on their heads called them names and more. The protesters stayed peaceful and didn't react to anything. After a while, the store owner was losing too much money by not being able to serve anyone because the seats were taken and they weren't giving up anytime soon. After a couple of months, the store owner finally decided to desegregate the counter. As everyone saw the success of Greensboro they started their own sit-ins that proved to be equally as successful all across the country.

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They created a whole chain of peaceful civil rights protests across the country and made lots of changes in many different cities. These protests were a new tactic that proved very successful and helped to desegregate lots of different places but mostly restaurants.

The protest grew so much that all of these seats were taken. The lunch counter or a replica now sits in a museum. The only way protesters would leave these seats during the protests where if they where physically dragged out.

In this picture, you can see how badly the protesters were treated by people. Even with getting called nasty names and getting things poured over their heads they still stayed peaceful and didn't react or make a big deal. This was a big philosophy for most of the protests around this time to not react to anything because it could give people another reason to want to stay segregated.

The four college students that started the sit-ins

The counter from the store that they sat at

How they where treated

Civil rights legislation

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The three main civil rights laws that were passed as a result of the civil rights movement were the 24th Amendment the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Together these laws outlawed poll taxes, segregation in public places, and discrimination based on race, sex, religion, color, or national origin. On top of that, it also outlawed literacy tests and ensured African Americans the right to vote without any obstacles. These laws were what most people wanted to come out of the civil rights movement because people could disagree with them but no matter what they still had to follow them.

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For the first time in the United States all male citizens were able to vote without any outrageous rules to keep them from voting. This was a huge step for the country because there were multiple laws before this that tried to help give the right to vote but they always had loopholes.

These signs around towns stated what needed to be done to register to vote. Most of the time there were unreal timelines or they required you to pay a tax or pass a test they would normally purposefully fail you on anyway. After the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed all these signs had to be taken down and no taxes or tests were allowed to be used to allow someone to vote.

This is a copy of how the 24th Amendment is worded in the Constitution. The way it is worded says that you can't deny the right to vote to anyone based on race, sex, religion, etc. It also says that no poll tax or any type of tax is allowed to be used before voting. This was very important because the poll tax was very expensive and most people couldn't afford to pay it which ment they couldent vote.

The voting box repersents being able to vote

These where the signs posted around towns

this is a copy of the 24th amendment

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Freedom Riders

In the South, an organization put together a bunch of groups of people to take long bus rides through the South called freedom rides. Their main goal was to test whether they could sit where they wanted and use all the facilities on a long bus ride. The different rides went all over but the most famous one went from Washington D.C to New Orleans. The ride was going well until they entered the Carolinas where they were met with violence. This was not going to be the only time that happened on their long ride. Things didn't get terrible until they reached Anniston Alabama. When they got to Annistion there were angry mobs waiting for the bus at the stop. The bus driver tried his best to keep them safe for a little while but that didn't stop them. The mobs broke windows, slashed the tires, and threw firebombs on board. Lots of people got hurt but it proved worth it when all interstate buses after that were forced to display a sign that said "Seating aboard this vehicle is without regard to race, color, creed, or national origin, by order of the interstate commerce commission."

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The freedom riders ended up getting arrested for their participation in the protests but they knew that that was a big possibility when they started the rides. Almost everyone who participated in any type of civil rights protest had to realize that there was a high chance of them getting hurt, arrested or most likely both. This took a lot of bravery and courage to show up and realize that this was going to happen.

This a refurbished replica of the bus that the freedom riders rode on. it's now part of a museum in Montgomery, Alabama, and is the site of the attack of freedom riders when they entered the station. The museum also has other things related to the freedom rides.

This is a picture of what the bus looked like after it got attacked.

This was the type of bus the freedom riders rode.

This was everyone that participated in the freedom rides.

This picture shows the lengths people would go to just to hurt the people trying to peacefully make a change. They threw firebombs at the bus and caused it to blow up. Lots of people were hurt because of this. People have also personally targeted people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. They burned down his old headquarters and they have done similar this to other people.