Civil Rights Movement Milestones Civil Rights Movement Milestones. Fifty years ago this month, a group of activists called the Freedom Riders rode buses through the South to try to thwart segregation, but they faced violent consequences. Here’s a look at those riders and at other pivotal moments in the civil rights movement. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregated public schools unconstitutional. Which "separate but equal" ruling did it overturn? Montgomery Bus Boycott In December 1955, African-American residents of this Alabama city protested the segregated public bus system. Little Rock Nine In 1957, nine African-American students enrolled in a previously segregated Arkansas high school (now a landmark), but they were blocked from entering on their first day. Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins On Feb. 1, 1960, four African-American college students sat down at a retailer’s lunch counter in silent protest of segregated dining...