Skip to main content

The timeline can be navigated with the “Scroll Left” and “Scroll Right” buttons or by dragging the pointer to a date on the timeline waveform (located at the bottom of the screen on the desktop version and on the left of the screen on mobile). To filter by a particular topic and see a smaller section of the data, make a selection on the dropdown “Filters” menu or click “Search” to do a keyword search. Hover over the abbreviated filter tags in the blue boxes to see the complete name of the filter, or click a filter to display all the data with this tag. If you want to take a deeper dive into a specific topic by viewing a narrative essay page and a curated timeline, click on “Stories.”

Read More
Bordered phhoto of Rosa Parks with her hair tied up wearing a monchrome outfit, glasses, and holding up a mug shot number 7053.
Rosa Parks' mug shot in Montgomery, Alabama (1956). (Photo: GPA Photo Archive, Department of State)

Montgomery Bus Boycott begins.

Date: 1955

RES
COP
JCL
BH
Rosa Parks' mug shot in Montgomery, Alabama (1956). (Photo: GPA Photo Archive, Department of State)

The Montgomery Bus Boycott begins in early December of 1955, and is organized by the Women's Political Council. Rosa Parks, a long-time organizer, agrees to be the test case by repeating the actions of Claudette Colvin, who had also refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white man. Parks is arrested, and a boycott is called for by organizers.

Police officers use horses, dogs, hoses, tear gas, and cattle prods to try and stop the demonstrations. After 381 days of Black folk boycotting the buses, the bus companies relent and end racial segregation on their buses.