The Beginning of Change

African Americans & Women in the 1950s

Brown vs. Board of Education 1954

Topeka, Kansas Landmark case that

desegregated the school system

Overthrew Plessy v. Ferguson separate but equal

Belief that you are telling a child they are not equal

Rosa Parks 1955

Arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a crowded bus

Led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott that lasted 381 days

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the leaders

Led to 80% decrease in bus revenue

Desegregated buses Nov. 1956

Little Rock Nine 1957

9 high school students are stopped form attending a desegregated high school in Arkansas

Governor calls out National Guard

President Eisenhower calls out US Army

How many of you ladies are going to college to get your

MRS?

Gentlemen, how would your feel if your wife made more money than you?

Would you stay home with the kids? Would you prefer a girl who was willing to stay

home while the kids were young?

Role of Women in 1950s

Primarily housewives & mothers

50s had the highest marriage rate