A committee established by President Truman in 1946 to investigate and make recommendations on ways to end discrimination and promote civil rights.

A proposed commission by Truman to prevent employers from discriminating against the hiring of Black people; blocked by Southern Democrats.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; a civil rights organization founded in 1909 dedicated to fighting racial discrimination.

The doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that allowed segregation as long as facilities were deemed equal; overturned by Brown v. Board of Education.

The phrase used in Brown II (1955) ordering lower courts to desegregate public schools, but the vagueness allowed for slow and resistant implementation.

A document signed by 101 members of Congress opposing the Brown v. Board of Education decision and pledging to resist school integration.

A guidebook listing businesses that were safe and friendly to Black travelers during segregation.

A 385-day protest in Montgomery, Alabama, sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest, calling for the desegregation of city buses.

A method of nonviolent protest advocated by Martin Luther King Jr., involving peaceful nonresistance to unjust laws and practices.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference; an organization formed by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957 to mobilize churches in the South for the civil rights struggle.

A form of nonviolent protest where participants occupy a space and refuse to leave, often used to challenge segregation.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; an organization formed to organize and coordinate sit-ins and other nonviolent protests.

Truman officially ordered the end of racial discrimination throughout the federal government, including the armed forces.

The brutal murder of Emmett Till and the open-casket funeral galvanized the Civil Rights Movement and built support for change.

The Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, ruling that separate facilities are inherently unequal and unconstitutional, mandating the end of school segregation.

The Supreme Court ordered lower courts to proceed with "all deliberate speed" to desegregate public schools.

A statement of opposition to the Brown v. Board of Education decision, signed by 101 members of Congress, pledging to resist school integration.

A massive African American protest sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest, calling for the desegregation of Montgomery's buses.

Four African American college students began a sit-in protest at a Woolworth's lunch counter, sparking a wave of sit-ins across the South.

Enabled local officials to assign individual students to schools on the basis of scholastic aptitude, ability to adjust, and “morals, conduct, health, and personal standards.”

U.S. President who used his executive powers to challenge racial discrimination, establishing the Committee on Civil Rights and ordering the end of discrimination in the federal government.

A 14-year-old boy murdered in Mississippi in 1955; his death and open-casket funeral galvanized the Civil Rights Movement.

The white woman whose accusation led to the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.

NAACP lawyer who argued Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court.

The African American student in Topeka, Kansas, who was denied enrollment at an all-white school, leading to the Brown v. Board of Education case.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who wrote the unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

Author of The Negro Motorist Green Book, a guidebook for Black travelers during segregation.

An African American woman whose refusal to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Minister and leader of the Civil Rights Movement who advocated for nonviolent protest and civil disobedience.

The four African American college students who began the sit-in protest at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.