Josh Davidson 6/29/23 Josh Davidson 6/29/23

Murder Mystery: Shining a Light on the Story That the Newspapers Left Out

Lesson by Allyson Criner Brown, Deborah Menkart, and Jenice L. View
The murder of Mississippi voting rights activist Herbert Lee, and subsequent murder of witness Louis Allen, were key events in the history of the modern Civil Rights Movement. However, they were barely mentioned in the local press at the time and the story is missing from textbooks and public memory today.

Josh Davidson 6/28/23 Josh Davidson 6/28/23

Exploring the History of Freedom Schools

Lesson by Deborah Menkart and Jenice L. View
This lesson uses primary documents to introduce the history and philosophy of Freedom Schools. The lesson is inquiry-based, hands-on, and engages students in critical reflection. Therefore, students learn about Freedom Schools not only from the readings, but they also experience the pedagogy.

Josh Davidson 6/27/23 Josh Davidson 6/27/23

What Would You Do? Students Grapple with Risks Faced by Voting Rights Activists

Lesson by Cristina Tosto
Students come to understand the level of bravery displayed by local activists and ordinary people in Mississippi when they simply completed a voter registration form by imagining themselves in the role of someone who lived during the modern Civil Rights Movement. The names of the activists are revealed after they’ve considered what they might do in the role they’ve been given.

Josh Davidson 6/18/23 Josh Davidson 6/18/23

Voting Rights Act: Beyond the Headlines

Reading by Emilye Crosby and Judy Richardson
Key points missing from most textbooks about the Voting Rights Act. Many textbooks approach the history of this important legislation through a top-down lens that gives most of the credit to President Lyndon Johnson, along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but the VRA came into being through intensive organizing and activism spearheaded by the Black community.

Josh Davidson 6/16/23 Josh Davidson 6/16/23

A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act

Lesson by Emilye Crosby
This lesson uses a case study of Lowndes County, Alabama and three SNCC-related documents from the early 1960s—just before and after the Voting Rights Act—to explore the impact of the Voting Rights Act (and 1964 Civil Rights Act) on every day southern Black citizens: What did the legislation mean to them? Did they achieve their goals?

Josh Davidson 6/5/23 Josh Davidson 6/5/23

Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) Political Context

Reading by Emilye Crosby
Political context for the formation of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO). This text is provided as background information for “A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act.”

Josh Davidson 6/5/23 Josh Davidson 6/5/23

Key Dates in Voting Rights History

Timeline by Emilye Crosby
This timeline of key dates in the struggle for voting rights is provided as background information for “A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act: A Case Study of SNCC’s work in Lowndes County and the Emergence of Black Power” by Emilye Crosby.

Josh Davidson 6/5/23 Josh Davidson 6/5/23

Bloody Selma

Reading by Prathia Hall
This essay about organizing in Selma is excerpted, with permission, from Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC.

Allison Acosta 6/5/23 Allison Acosta 6/5/23

Freedom Fighter: The Life and Legacy of Ms. Dorie Ladner

Interview by Maestra Productions
Dorie Ladner was a passionate civil rights activist and leader in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. This interview about her life was conducted in 2017 by Maestra Productions in collaboration with Bowie State University Department of Fine and Performing Arts and Teaching for Change.

Josh Davidson 6/1/23 Josh Davidson 6/1/23

From Civil Rights to Black Power: The Significance of the 1965-66 Alabama Freedom Movement

Reading by Abayomi Azikiwe
The application of independent politics transformed the African American struggle in Selma, Alabama.

Allison Acosta 3/8/24 Allison Acosta 3/8/24

Murder of Reverend George W. Lee

Reading by Zinn Education Project
Rev. George Washington Lee, one of the first African Americans registered to vote in Humphreys County, Mississippi since Reconstruction, used his pulpit and his printing press to urge others to vote. He was murdered on May 7, 1955.

Allison Acosta 1/9/24 Allison Acosta 1/9/24

Introduction: Voting Rights

Learning the full history of the fight for voting rights is especially important today, in light of the 2013 Shelby v. Holder U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down the 1965 Voting Rights Act provisions requiring certain states to obtain federal preclearance before changing voting laws.

Allison Acosta 7/1/23 Allison Acosta 7/1/23

Voting Rights History Quiz

Quiz by Teaching for Change
We’ve all seen the iconic image of President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But what do we know of the history that led to the signing of the legislation? This quiz can challenge assumptions, deepen understanding, and inspire further learning about the voting rights struggle.

Josh Davidson 6/30/23 Josh Davidson 6/30/23

Selma in Pictures: Socratic Seminar

Lesson by Lynda Tredway
In a media driven age, visual images often provide access to important events and political struggles that may be more immediately accessible to students than written texts. This lesson includes two sets of images from the Selma voting rights struggle that promote critical thinking by SNCC photographer Matt Herron. The steps include observation (reading the text), forming a hypothesis, and dialogue—much like an inquiry model of teaching.

Josh Davidson 6/30/23 Josh Davidson 6/30/23

Ten Things You Should Know About Selma Before You See the Film

Reading by Emilye Crosby
Key points in the history of the Selma voting rights struggle to keep in mind as you view the popular film about the Selma-to-Montgomery March.

Allison Acosta 6/20/23 Allison Acosta 6/20/23

Who Gets to Vote? Teaching About the Struggle for Voting Rights in the United States

Lesson by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca
Unit with three lessons on voting rights, including the history of the struggle against voter suppression in the United States.

Josh Davidson 6/17/23 Josh Davidson 6/17/23

Sheyann Webb: A Story for First Grade

Reading by Maggie Donovan
First-grade teacher and SNCC veteran Maggie Donovan wrote this story about Sheyann Webb to introduce her students to the role of young people (like themselves) in the Civil Rights Movement.

Josh Davidson 6/17/23 Josh Davidson 6/17/23

Stepping into Selma: Voting Rights History and Legacy Today

Lesson by Deborah Menkart
This lesson invites students to step into the long history of the freedom struggle in Selma, introducing them to people, turning points, and issues.

Josh Davidson 6/13/23 Josh Davidson 6/13/23

Sharecroppers Challenge U.S. Apartheid

Lesson by Sara Evers, Julian Hipkins III, Deborah Menkart, and Jenice L. View
This lesson explores one of the most important events in the fight for true democracy in the U.S., when a coalition of grassroots activists challenged the Mississippi political system, the federal government, and the national Democratic Party to abide by the U.S. Constitution.

Josh Davidson 6/5/23 Josh Davidson 6/5/23

Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act

Reading by Emilye Crosby
This text explains how the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act addressed distinct forms of racial discrimination. It is provided as background information for “A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act: A Case Study of SNCC’s work in Lowndes County and the Emergence of Black Power” by Emilye Crosby.

Josh Davidson 6/5/23 Josh Davidson 6/5/23

Civil Rights Movement Tactics

Reading by Emilye Crosby
This text explores how the Civil Rights Movement utilized a range of tactics to address different problems. It is provided as background information for “A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act: A Case Study of SNCC’s work in Lowndes County and the Emergence of Black Power” by Emilye Crosby.

Josh Davidson 6/5/23 Josh Davidson 6/5/23

Vernon F. Dahmer: Civil Rights Martyr and American Hero

Reading by Joyce Ladner
These remarks were prepared by sociologist and SNCC veteran Joyce Ladner for a commemoration of Vernon Dahmer on January 8, 2016, hosted by the Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi.

Josh Davidson 6/5/23 Josh Davidson 6/5/23

Teaching With Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, & Insisted on Equality for All

Lesson by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca
Students engage in an interactive activity with short excerpts from Martha Jones’ book to learn about the leading role of Black women in the fight for voting rights throughout U.S. history.

Allison Acosta 6/1/23 Allison Acosta 6/1/23

A Short History of Voting Rights in Mississippi

Reading by Elizabeth Boyd
From Mississippi Statehood in 1817 to 1960.