1951
A court order requires the University of North Carolina to admit minority students to its graduate and professional schools. Floyd B. McKissick, Harvey Beech, J. Kenneth Lee, and James Lassiter become the first African Americans admitted to the law school.

1952
Catholic parish schools in North Carolina begin desegregation.

1953
Elementary schools at Fort Bragg army base are desegregated.
 
1954
In response to the Brown decision, the Greensboro school board begins an effort to desegregate the city's public schools.

1955
The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill admits the first African American freshmen: Leroy Frasier, John Lewis Brandon, and Ralph Frasier.

The North Carolina General Assembly adopts a resolution opposing racial integration in the state's public schools. The legislature gives local school boards control over the desegregation of their schools.

1956
The General Assembly adopts the Pearsall Plan, which offers North Carolinians alternatives to attending integrated public schools.

1957
Small numbers of African American students enroll in previously white public schools in Greensboro, Charlotte, and Winston-Salem, beginning a period of token integration.

Seven black activists led by Rev. Douglas E. Moore challenge segregation with a sit-in at Durham's Royal Ice Cream Company.

1958
A large group of armed Lumbee break up a Ku Klux Klan rally near Maxton.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visits North Carolina. He delivers speeches in Raleigh and Greensboro.

Portions of this timeline are reprinted from the Tar Heel Junior Historian 44 (Fall 2004), © North Carolina Museum of History, Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.