Curated OER
Seeking Civil Rights
Students explore the impact of the Plessy v. Ferguson case. In this social justice instructional activity, students examine the case, Jim Crow laws, and non-violent forms of protest. Students write essays to persuade the government...
Curated OER
Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement
Pupils analyze historic rulings that played roles in the Civil Rights Movement. In this civil right lesson plan, students research Internet and print sources regarding Plessy v. Ferguson, Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of...
Curated OER
The Rise of Segregation
Eleventh graders describe the foundation for legal segregation in the South and identify three key African American leaders' responses to discrimination. They also find and copy the definition of sharecropper and answer a variety of...
Library of Congress
Loc: Teachers: Segregation: From Jim Crow to Linda Brown
Lesson from the Library of Congress on "the era of legal segregation in America, from Plessy v. Ferguson (1897) to Brown v. The Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas (1954)."
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Civil Rights Special Collection
Multimedia collection of video, primary text documents and audio on Civil Rights, especially Brown vs. Board of Education.
University of Virginia
Virginia Center for Digital History: Television News of the Civil Rights Era
A rich collection of streaming video samples of television news footage from 1950 to 1970, along with an assortment of primary source documents, first-person accounts, a glossary of terms, and essays and analysis for learning about the...
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Supreme Court Rules on School Desegregation
This thoughtful unit explores the history of school desegregation legislation, including a discussion of the impact of the Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education decisions. A six-week plan of lessons, along with other sample...
This Nation
This nation.com: Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
This site from ThisNation.com provides Justice Henry B. Brown's full text of the Supreme Court's decision in this landmark case, written by Henry B. Brown.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Separate Is Not Equal: Brown v. Board of Education
From the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, this exhibition on Brown v. Board of Education shows much of the struggle of the Civil Rights era, not only to achieve equality in educational opportunities but to...
US National Archives
Docsteach: From Dred Scott to Civil Rights Act of 1875: Eighteen Years of Change
In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott decision that African-Americans were not citizens of the United States. Yet within 18 years, Black Americans would not only have citizenship, but would be guaranteed the right to...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Civil Rights: Demanding Equality
Teach the history of Civil Rights using this comprehensive learning module. Trace the movement from the 14th Amendment to modern times. The focus is on African American rights but also touches on women and disabled American's rights....
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Supreme Court Landmark Cases: Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
From a PBS series about the Supreme Court, Plessy v. Ferguson is considered one of the landmark cases in the court's first 100 years. Read about the background of this important case, read about the thinking of the majority of the court...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Separate but Equal: A Study of Segregation
Given Supreme Court case summaries, students will compare and contrast the impact of the Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education decisions.
iCivics
I Civics: Curriculum Unit Landmark Library
This library of mini-lessons targets a variety of landmark cases from the United States Supreme Court and includes a one-page reading and a one-page activity.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Making of African American Identity: Segregation
A Supreme Court decision, a chapter from a novel, and an editorial that explore segregation in late-nineteenth-century America. This resource focuses primarily on Plessy v. Ferguson, and the complexities that followed from this ruling.
Scholastic
Scholastic: The Progresssive Era
This Grolier On-line Encyclopedia article hits the main points of the Progressive Era stretching from the 1890s until just after the end of World War I.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Culture & Change, Evolution of Black History
Explore the Black History in America in the lives of famous African Americans. Features include a clickable interactive timeline that highlights important events, accomplishments, and personalities from 1492 to 2001.
Then Again
Then Again: Web Chron: Plessy v. Ferguson
A short article describing the impact of Plessy v. Ferguson on the 14th Amendment. Links to other sites.
Other
Louis D. Brandeis School of Law: Harlan's Great Dissent
An article from the University of Louisville about Justice John Harlan, who courageously cast the sole dissenting vote in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case, which approved of the principles of separate but equal.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Plessy v. Ferguson
The decision of the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson kept black and white people separate in all public areas for many years. To find out what that meant, and to see some actual photographs, visit this page.
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Plessy vs. Ferguson" by Jessica Mc Birney
A learning module that begins with "Plessy vs. Ferguson" by Jessica McBirney accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: The South After the Civil War: Jim Crow
Explains how Jim Crow laws came to be created in the South and what it meant for African Americans. Discusses the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case, how its decision was eventually overturned, and the events that brought an end to...
Country Studies US
Country Studies: The Divided South
This site describes how after the Civil War, the South struggled to survive. By in large, efforts to attract industry failed and soon a strictly enforced social segregation system appeared and would last until well into the 20th century.
Cool Fire Technology
Cool Fire Technology: Supreme Court Decisions
A listing of the most significant Supreme Court cases in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with brief summaries of how they impacted on federalism.