National Civil Rights Timeline 1957

January 10, 1957

Source: Wikimedia: Wikimedia: Florida Memory.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is founded by Martin Luther King, Charles K. Steele, and Fred L. Shuttlesworth. The organization is a key leadership group during the Civil Rights Movement. It advocates a nonviolent approach to fight injustice.

September 9, 1957

The Civil Rights Act of 1957 is enacted. Its primary goal is to protect black citizens from disenfranchisement. It creates a Civil Rights Commission to investigate voting problems and gives the Justice Department jurisdiction to counter irregularities in federal elections.

Source: Press Scimitar, Special Collections, University of Memphis Libraries

September 24, 1957

[Text to come]