Pivotal Moments in Civil Rights History

"The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class - it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity." - Anna Julia Cooper

For almost 400 years, pivotal moments forever shaped what we know, think, feel, and remember about civil rights in America. Across the country, national parks tell pieces of this story, weaving together a national mosaic of memory. It is a tapestry that will never be complete.

Before there were civil rights

Civil Rights Before Independence Explore This Era

"All Men Are Created Equal"

Emerging Causes, 1776–1865 Explore This Era

Repression of Rights

Reconstruction & Jim Crow, 1865-1900 Explore This Era

Struggles won and lost

Rekindling Civil Rights, 1900-1941 Explore This Era

The Civil Rights Movement is Born

Birth of a Movement, 1941-1954 Explore This Era

Standing Up for Rights

Modern Civil Rights Era, 1954-1964 Explore This Era

The struggle continues

The Second Revolution, 1965-1980 Explore This Era