Jim Crow did not end on a single day, but the core system of Jim Crow laws effectively ended in the mid‑1960s with landmark federal civil rights legislation.

Short direct answer

  • Jim Crow laws began to be dismantled in the 1950s, especially after the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education , which struck down segregation in public schools.
  • The legal foundation of Jim Crow in public life was effectively ended by:
    • Civil Rights Act of 1964 – outlawed discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and other areas.
* Voting Rights Act of 1965 – banned discriminatory voting practices that had disenfranchised Black voters.

Many historians and museums therefore treat 1964–1965 as the end of the Jim Crow era in law, with 1965 (passage of the Voting Rights Act) often cited as the symbolic end point.

Why “when did Jim Crow end?” is tricky

Jim Crow was a whole system of state and local segregation laws, customs, and practices , mainly in the U.S. South, that operated from the late 19th century through much of the 20th century. Because it was a web of different state laws, court rulings, and informal violence, there was never one single repeal date across the country.

So historians talk about:

  • When Jim Crow began to disappear (mid‑20th century, especially the 1950s).
  • When core legal segregation and disenfranchisement were finally outlawed nationwide (1964–1965, sometimes extended to include 1968’s Fair Housing Act).

Key milestones on the way out

  • 1954 – Brown v. Board of Education
    The Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional, overruling “separate but equal” in education and giving a major legal blow to Jim Crow.
  • 1964 – Civil Rights Act
    Outlawed discrimination by race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in public accommodations, employment, and certain other areas, directly targeting core Jim Crow practices.
  • 1965 – Voting Rights Act
    Prohibited literacy tests and other tactics Southern states used to block Black citizens from voting, ending the central political pillar of Jim Crow.
  • 1968 – Fair Housing Act
    Banned race‑based discrimination in housing, helping dismantle segregation in where people could live.

Because of these, many timelines say the “Jim Crow era” runs roughly from the end of Reconstruction (late 1870s) to the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts (1964–1965).

Very short TL;DR

If you need one line: Jim Crow effectively ended in 1964–1965, with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which dismantled the legal basis for segregation and Black disenfranchisement.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.