National Civil Rights Timeline 1954

May 17, 1954

Source: Special Collections, University of Memphis Libraries

Brown v. the Board of Education overrules Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which held separate but equal accommodations were constitutional in the United States. Brown holds that separation education was unconstitutional, but does not provide tactics or a timeline for achieving integration. As a result, integration of schools and public accommodations remain to be hard-fought throughout the movement, activsts' legislative efforts, and the courts.