African American History and Women

What's included? See note below timeline.

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Women and African American History: 1960-1969

1960

• Ruby Bridges integrated an all-white elementary school in New Orleans, Louisiana

• Ella Baker among others organized SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) at Shaw University

• Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three Olympic gold meals, and was named Athlete of the Year by the United Press

1961

• CORE Freedom Rides began, with the aim of desegregating public buses -- many brave women and men participated

• (March 6) Executive Order by John F. Kennedy promoted "affirmative action" to abolish racial biases in hiring on projects where federal funds were involved

1962

1963

• (September 15) Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins, and Cynthia Weston, ages 11-14, killed in the bombing of 16th Street Church in Birmingham, Alabama

• Dinah Washington (Ruth Lee Jones) died (singer)

1964

• (April 6) Mrs. Frankie Muse Freeman becomes the first woman on the new U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

• (July 2) US Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law

• Fannie Lou Hamer testified for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party before the Credentials Committee of the Democratic National Convention

1965

• Viola Liuzzo murdered by Ku Klux Klan members after participating in civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama

• affirmative action was required to eliminate racial bias in hiring on federally-funded projects, as defined by Executive Order 11246

• Patricia Harris became the first African American woman ambassador (Luxemburg)

• Mary Burnett Talbert died (activist: anti-lynching, civil rights)

• Dorothy Dandridge died (actress, singer, dancer)

• Lorraine Hansberry died (playwright, wrote Raisin in the Sun)

1966

• (August 14) Halle Berry born (actress)

• (August 30) Constance Baker Motley appointed a federal judge, the first African American woman to hold that office

1967

• (June 12) in Loving v. Virginia, Supreme Court ruled that laws prohibiting interracial marriage were unconstitutional, voiding statutes still on the books in 16 states

• (October 13) 1965 Executive Order 11246, requiring affirmative action to eliminate racial bias in hiring on federally-funded projects, was amended to include gender-based discrimination

• Aretha Franklin, "Queen of Soul," recorded her signature song, "Respect"

1968

• Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to the US House of Representatives

1969

• (Ocrober 29) Supreme Court ordered immediate desegregation of school districts

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[Biographies of Notable African American Women]

Events in this timeline include:

• events featuring African American women
• birth and death dates for many notable African American women
• general African American events which had significant impact on African American women and families as well as men
• events involving key women whose work influenced African American history, for instance the involvement of many European American women in anti-slavery work
• birth and death dates for key women whose work was important in African American history, for instance in anti-slavery or civil rights work