The Civil Rights Movement was a decades-long struggle by African Americans and their allies to end segregation and discrimination against Black people in the United States. This pivotal time in American history was marked by mass protests, marches, boycotts, and civil disobedience led by civil rights activists. To help you learn more about this impactful movement, here are 59 riddles about key events, people, and organizations, along with their answers.
Riddles About Key Events
The Civil Rights Movement was driven forward by a series of landmark events. Test your knowledge of these history-making moments with the following riddles:
1. In May 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional in this famous case brought against the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas. What is Brown v. Board of Education?
2. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in this Southern city, sparking a year-long bus boycott. What is Montgomery, Alabama?
3. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963 during this massive rally held in Washington, D.C. What is the March on Washington?
4. NAACP leader Medgar Evers was assassinated outside his home in this Southern state on June 12, 1963. What is Mississippi?
5. On March 7, 1965, civil rights activists were attacked by state troopers while marching across this bridge from Selma to Montgomery. What is the Edmund Pettus Bridge?
6. President Johnson signed this landmark civil rights legislation on July 2, 1964, outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. What is the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
7. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray in this Southern city, sparking riots across America. What is Memphis, Tennessee?
8. Black college students staged a sit-in on February 1, 1960 when they were refused service at this Greensboro, North Carolina lunch counter. What is the Woolworth lunch counter?
Riddles About Key People
The movement was led by courageous civil rights leaders. How much do you know about them?
9. Who was the first African American Supreme Court justice, appointed in 1967? Who is Thurgood Marshall?
10. Who was the civil rights activist arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama? Who is Rosa Parks?
11. Who was the leading civil rights activist and Baptist minister who delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech? Who is Martin Luther King, Jr.?
12. Who was the charismatic civil rights leader and Malcolm X’s brother who was shot and killed in 1965 in Harlem? Who is Malcolm Shabazz?
13. Who was the president of the NAACP who was assassinated in front of his home in Mississippi in 1963? Who is Medgar Evers?
14. Who was the young Baptist minister who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and led the 1963 Birmingham Campaign? Who is Ralph Abernathy?
15. Who was the scholar and activist who co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and led the Mississippi Freedom Summer voter registration drive? Who is Bob Moses?
16. Who was the charismatic civil rights leader who popularized sit-ins and co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee? Who is Ella Baker?
17. Who was the Alabama pastor and leader of the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott? Who is Martin Luther King, Sr.?
18. Who was the African American activist who refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery in 1955? Who is Claudette Colvin?
Riddles About Key Organizations
The movement was carried out by pivotal civil rights organizations. Test your knowledge of them:
19. What interracial, nonviolent civil rights organization did Martin Luther King, Jr. lead? What is the Southern Christian Leadership Conference?
20. What leading civil rights organization did W.E.B. Du Bois co-found in 1909? What is the NAACP?
21. What civil rights organization was founded in 1942 to fight segregation and job discrimination against African Americans? What is the Congress of Racial Equality?
22. What civil rights legal organization fought segregation through the courts and won the Brown v. Board of Education case? What is the NAACP Legal Defense Fund?
23. What civil rights organization used nonviolent civil disobedience to challenge segregation through Freedom Rides and lunch counter sit-ins? What is the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee?
24. What organization published The Liberator abolitionist newspaper and advocated for racial equality and women’s rights in the 1800s? What is the American Anti-Slavery Society?
25. What civil rights organization did A. Philip Randolph lead that organized the 1963 March on Washington? What is the Negro American Labor Council?
Riddles About Key Events
Here are more riddles covering pivotal moments in the Civil Rights Movement:
26. In 1962, James Meredith became the first African American student to enroll at this segregated Mississippi university after being escorted by federal marshals. What is the University of Mississippi?
27. In 1963, four young African American girls were killed when the KKK bombed this Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama. What is the 16th Street Baptist Church?
28. On March 25, 1965, this civil rights activist led thousands of people on a 54-mile voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Who is John Lewis?
29. This 1964 law prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and facilities, expanding on the Civil Rights Act passed earlier that year. What is the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
30. After being arrested in 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. penned his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” which argued against what? What is moderation?
Riddles About Key Concepts
The movement was driven by key ideas and philosophies. Test your grasp of them:
31. What term did Martin Luther King, Jr. use to describe protesting unjust laws without violence? What is civil disobedience?
32. What form of protest did students use when they sat at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave until served? What is a sit-in?
33. What term described the practice of refusing to ride city buses in Montgomery to protest segregation? What is the bus boycott?
34. What phrase did Martin Luther King, Jr. use to describe his dream of equality between all races? What is “I have a dream?”
35. What form of protest did the Freedom Riders use when they rode interstate buses to challenge segregated facilities? What are Freedom Rides?
Riddles About Opposition Figures
The movement also faced resistance from ardent segregationists. How much do you know about them?
36. Who was the Alabama governor who tried to block the Montgomery bus boycott by prosecuting Martin Luther King, Jr.? Who is George Wallace?
37. Who was the Birmingham Commissioner of Public Safety who directed the police to use dogs and fire hoses against civil rights protesters? Who is Bull Connor?
38. Who was the Alabama governor who stood in the schoolhouse door at the University of Alabama in 1963 to try to block integration? Who is George Wallace?
39. Who assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968 and was sentenced to 99 years in prison? Who is James Earl Ray?
40. Who founded the White Citizens Council in Mississippi in 1954 to resist school integration after Brown v. Board of Education? Who is Robert Patterson?
Riddles About Key Figures
Here are more riddles about important civil rights leaders and activists:
41. Who was a founder of the Congress of Racial Equality and pioneered the Freedom Rides in 1947? Who is Bayard Rustin?
42. Who was an NAACP field secretary who was murdered in Florida while investigating lynchings in 1951? Who is Harry T. Moore?
43. Who led the Montgomery Improvement Association and the Montgomery bus boycott after Rosa Parks’ arrest? Who is Martin Luther King, Jr.?
44. Who was a founder of the Black Panther Party who advocated for Black Power in the late 1960s? Who is Huey P. Newton?
45. Who led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and urged President Roosevelt to ban discrimination during World War II? Who is A. Philip Randolph?
Riddles About the Black Power Movement
The Black Power Movement grew out of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. Test your grasp of it:
46. Stokely Carmichael, who popularized the slogan “Black Power,” led what civil rights organization in the late 1960s? What is the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)?
47. Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded what revolutionary Black Power organization in 1966? What are the Black Panthers?
48. Who was the influential activist and Malcolm X’s wife who spread the Black Power message after his death? Who is Betty Shabazz?
49. What 1968 Olympics medalists raised their fists in the Black Power salute on the medal stand? Who are Tommie Smith and John Carlos?
50. Who wrote the pivotal book Soul on Ice in 1968 that helped shape the Black Power movement? Who is Eldridge Cleaver?
Riddles About the Movement’s Legacy
The Civil Rights Movement sparked lasting change in America. Assess its legacy:
51. What federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. was first observed in 1986? What is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day?
52. Barack Obama was elected the first African American president in what year? What is 2008?
53. What was the landmark civil rights law passed in 1991 to help victims of job discrimination sue for damages? What is the Civil Rights Act of 1991?
54. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed during which president’s administration? Whose administration is Lyndon B. Johnson’s?
55. Who became the first African American woman elected to Congress in 1968 from New York? Who is Shirley Chisholm?
Riddles About Key Events
Let’s wrap up with a few more riddles about pivotal events:
56. Black sanitation workers went on strike in 1968 after two workers were killed by a malfunctioning truck in this Tennessee city. What is Memphis?
57. King delivered his first speech advocating nonviolent resistance in 1955 during the bus boycotts in this Alabama city. What is Montgomery?
58. The “Little Rock Nine” integrated this Arkansas high school in 1957 after being escorted by federal troops. What is Little Rock Central High School?
59. After being arrested during a pray-in at a Baltimore restaurant in 1964, King penned his essay outlining the Four Steps of what? What is Nonviolent Action?
Conclusion
Through these thought-provoking riddles, you’ve analyzed key events, people, organizations, philosophies, and achievements of the monumental Civil Rights Movement. This influential era changed America in profound ways that still resonate today. By uncovering the pivotal moments and figures that propelled the struggle forward, we can fully appreciate the courage and sacrifice that made civil rights advancements possible.
