The U.S. Supreme Court ruled racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional in 1954, but Alabama avoided implementing the decision until 1963. In that year, four black children were killed by a bomb that destroyed part of their Birmingham church. Widespread outrage over the incident helped create the climate that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In 1965, Dr. King led a march from Selma to Montgomery to protest discrimination in voter registration. Congress responded with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which helped blacks get onto the voting rolls in Alabama. This led white politicians to moderate their views to attract black votes.

Here are some topics to explore that relate to Alabama and Civil Rights in the 1960s. Looking at the articles, images, and other materials in this Research Starter may give you more ideas. Each topic has one or more articles to start you on your research, but remember that it takes more than one article to make a research paper. Continue your research with our list of articles below.
		Jim Crow laws
Why had blacks been deprived of the right to vote? Once they did have the right, what measures were taken to discourage them from exercising it? How effective was the Voting Rights Act?
		African American history
What did it take to change the system and the society? What were some of the tactics used by civil rights activists to bring about these changes?
		Civil Rights Acts
		King, Martin Luther, Jr.
How have race relations improved since the period under study? What were the main factors that led to these improvements? What improvements do you think are still needed?
		United States, history of the (1960�2001)
Compare the Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson with Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. What are the similarities and differences?
		Supreme Court of the United States
		Plessy v. Ferguson (document)

		Alabama
		Alabama (fact sheet)
		Selma
		Montgomery
		King, Martin Luther, Jr.
		Wallace, George
		Johnson, Lyndon B.
		Johnson, Lyndon B. (factsheet)
		Jim Crow laws
		Plessy v. Ferguson (document)
		Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (document)
		National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
		Civil Rights Acts
		African American history
		United States, history of the (1960�2001)
		Supreme Court of the United States
		Supreme Court of the United States, List of Justices

Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel http://www.touralabama.org/ Official Web site of the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel offers information on historic sites, accommodations, and outdoor attractions in various regions of the state. Alabama.com Home Page http://www.alabama.gov/ Official Web site of the state of Alabama offers general information about the state as well as information about state and local government, statistical data, a tourist guide, and an extensive set of links. NAA: Hotlinks to Newspapers Online http://www.newspaperlinks.com/home.cfm Newspaper Association of America offers a gateway to news media Web sites, including U.S. dailies (searchable by state), Canadian newspapers, selected international press, weeklies, agencies and associations, business papers, and alternative press. State and Local Government on the Net: Alabama http://www.statelocalgov.net/index.cfm The state and local government for Alabama. Martin Luther King, Jr. World Wide Web Site http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/ An extremely informative and interesting site with extensive information about Dr. King, his accomplishments, and his legacy. Also provides very good direction for further study. The Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/ The Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum at the University of Texas provides extensive information about Johnson and his long and important public career. An excellent site. Claudia Taylor (Lady Bird) Johnson http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/cj36.html The White House Web site provides a short biography and portrait of first lady Lady Bird Johnson. The site has many links and several worthwhile surrounding pages. Welcome to the White House http://www.whitehouse.gov/ One of the most popular sites on the Internet. Take a tour of the president's residence, meet the first family, read presidential press releases. Biographical data on all past presidents can be found under "White House History." Presidential Campaign Memorabilia from the Duke University Special Collections Library http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/americavotes/ U.S. presidential campaign memorabilia drawn from the holdings of the Duke Univ. Libraries. Presidential and vice presidential candidates and parties (1796 to the present) are represented in documents, leaflets, campaign buttons, and bumper stickers. Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States http://www.bartleby.com/124/index.html Site provides the full text of a selection of presidential inaugural addresses from George Washington's first term to the present. Historical Text Archive http://historicaltextarchive.com/ Primary source material plus a lively collection of links for the study of American history, organized topically and by historical period. Welcome to the NAACP Home Page http://www.naacp.org/ Web site of the NAACP provides a good history of the organization, national news, current issues, and related information. United States Code Chapter 21 http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/42/ch21.html Site provides a hypertext version of the complete US Code, Chapter 21 (Civil Rights). Civil Rights and Discrimination http://www.law.cornell.edu:80/topics/civil_rights.html Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute provides primary and secondary materials relating to civil rights and constitutional law. Equal Protection Law Materials http://www.law.cornell.edu:80/topics/equal_protection.html Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute provides primary and secondary material on equal protection law and court cases. The African-American Mosaic http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html The African-American Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture provides an excellent source for accurate and important information covering nearly 500 years of the black experience in the Western Hemisphere. African American Web Connection http://www.aawc.com/aawc.html The African American Web Connection provides a good categorical directory and guide to many information resources related to African American life.