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]