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

Sit Down Marie!: Eugenia Fortes at the Hyannis Port Beach

Teaching Reflection by Maggie Donovan
Students react to a story about two young African-American girls who refused to move to the colored section of the Massachusetts beach.

Mykella Palmer 9/20/24 Mykella Palmer 9/20/24

McComb History

The McCombLegacies.org website (now archived) was designed to share the history of McComb, Miss., with an emphasis on the stories of working people of all races, women, and young people and how they have strived for equity in labor, civics, education, economics, and the arts.

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

W. E. B. Du Bois to Coretta Scott King: The Untold History of the Movement to Ban the Bomb

Reading by Vincent Intondi
The Civil Rights Movement is often portrayed as purely domestic phenomena unrelated to foreign affairs, but many African Americans combined civil rights with peace, and thus broadening the Black freedom movement and helping define it in terms of global human rights.

Allison Acosta 8/9/24 Allison Acosta 8/9/24

Introduction: Transnational Solidarity

Introduction by Teaching for Change
The Civil Rights Movement in the United States was connected to the international struggle against colonialism. Such well-known African American historians as W. E. B. Du Bois and Carter G. Woodson had long linked U.S. racism and segregation to the colonial system in Africa and other parts of the world.

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

The Role of Freedom Songs

Reading by SNCC Digital Gateway
One cannot understand the history of the Civil Rights Movement absent the role of freedom songs. Here is a description of their importance from the SNCC Digital Gateway, followed by the song “If You Miss Me from the Back of the Bus.”

Allison Acosta 8/9/24 Allison Acosta 8/9/24

Introduction: Black Power

Introduction by Teaching for Change
If the nonviolence of the Southern Freedom/Civil Rights Movement frightened mainstream people in the United States, the Black Power movement confronted institutional racism with a youthful boldness and fearlessness unseen since enslaved Africans took up arms in the Civil War. In this section, important “founding documents” of the Black Power movement are examined. In addition, the section explores the impact of Black Power on other oppressed peoples in the United States.

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

1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Statement and Demands

By heads of ten organizations calling for the March of August 28, 1963
The 1963 March on Washington had a list of ten demands. Half of the demands were not about integration or education – they were about labor and economic rights.

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

Digital Collections

Resource by Teaching for Change
A list of digital collections with content about the Civil Rights Movement.

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

Uncovering the Movement: A Staff Development Seminar

Lesson by Alana Murray
A workshop designed to give teachers and other school staff a chance to examine their own understanding of the Civil Rights Movement and consider the impact of the traditional narrative on students.

Allison Acosta 8/6/24 Allison Acosta 8/6/24

Books About the Civil Rights Movement

Resource by Teaching for Change
Booklists about the Civil Rights Movement by age range and topic.

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

Looking for Justice at Turkey Creek: Out of the Classroom and into the Past

Teaching Reflection by Hardy Thames
Students study the African-American community of Turkey Creek, Mississippi, exploring whether the changes in the community relate to social and economic growth or social justice issues and then create projects with research and action components.

Allison Acosta 8/5/24 Allison Acosta 8/5/24

Films About the Civil Rights Movement

Resource by the Zinn Education Project
A selection of films about the Civil Rights Movement.

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

Teaching About Race and the Media

Lesson by Julian Hipkins III
The corporate media portrayed events happening across the country through a lens of white supremacy, ignoring or misreporting tales of state sponsored terrorism. This lesson introduces students to the impact of the corporate media on the Civil Rights Movement, the role of the Black press, and organizing by African Americans to hold the white press accountable.

Allison Acosta 8/5/24 Allison Acosta 8/5/24

School Colors

Podacast by Mark Winston Griffith and Max Freedman
Season one of the School Colors podcast covers the history of Ocean Hill-Brownsville in Brooklyn where Black and Puerto Rican parents tried to exercise power over their schools and they collided head first with the teachers’ union — leading to the longest teachers’ strike in U.S. history in 1968.

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

“Is This America?” 50 Years Ago Sharecroppers Challenged Mississippi Apartheid, LBJ, and the Nation

Reading by Julian Hipkins III and Deborah Menkart
The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party arrived at the 1965 Democratic Party Convention in Atlantic City on a bus with more than 60 sharecroppers, farmers, housewives, teachers, maids, deacons, ministers, factory workers, and small-business owners. Students can learn from the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party about how to take on the Goliaths in politics.

Allison Acosta 8/5/24 Allison Acosta 8/5/24

Teaching Hard History

Podcast by Hasan Jeffries
Season 3 of the Learning for Justice Hard History podcast focuses on the Civil Rights Movement.

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.

Allison Acosta 3/19/24 Allison Acosta 3/19/24

March on Washington Hidden History Quiz

Quiz by Teaching for Change
When most people think of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, what comes to mind is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic statement, “I Have a Dream.” In truth, there was much more to this historic event than these four words in King’s speech. Teaching for Change designed this quiz about the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom to challenge assumptions, deepen understanding, and inspire further learning.

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

What We Don’t Learn About the Black Panther Party — But Should

Lesson by Adam Sanchez and Jesse Hagopian
A mixer lesson introduces students to the pivotal history of the Black Panthers.

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.

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

Sit-Ups

Teaching Reflection by Maggie Donovan
First graders learn about sit-in strategies.

Mykella Palmer 2/9/24 Mykella Palmer 2/9/24

Introduction: Labor and Land

Labor and land have always been central to the struggle for civil and human rights in the United States. In this introduction, we share a few examples.

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

Resistance 101: A Lesson on Social Justice Activists and Strategies

Lesson by Allison Acosta and Deborah Menkart
A lesson to introduce students to people throughout U.S. history, including many young people, who fought for social justice and civic change using a range of strategies.

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.

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

Claiming and Teaching the 1963 March on Washington

Reading by Bill Fletcher Jr.
The March on Washington did not begin as a classic civil rights march. It is barely remembered that the March on Washington was for freedom AND jobs, or that the march was initiated by black labor leaders.

Julia Salcedo 1/8/24 Julia Salcedo 1/8/24

Introduction: Student Engagement

Introduction
This section highlights ways that teachers and young people can work together to learn about and document Civil Rights Movement history — and apply it to their lives today.

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

The Haitian Revolution: Central to U.S. History

Reading By Alana D. Murray
For Black people prior to the Civil War, the revolt of enslaved people in Haiti served as a beacon of freedom. These heroic actions of the Haitian revolutionaries resonated well into the 20th century. The events of the Haitian revolution shaped a Pan African identity that influenced the thinking of leaders in the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement.

Josh Davidson 10/31/23 Josh Davidson 10/31/23

Native American Land Loss Maps

Image by Sam B. Hilliard
Five maps in a chronological series showing post-colonial land cessions in the continental United States and two additional maps showing land claims by tribe and present-day Indian reservations.