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.
Library of Congress
Loc: Higher Education
The freed slaves needed skills to thrive in industrial America so many industrial schools were opened to address these needs. However, many saw these practical skills learned in these schools as perpetuating the status of an African...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry
Selected (7) reading passages (grades 8-10) to pair with the drama "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry. When a struggling African-American family receives a large insurance check, a conflict erupts on how to spend the money....
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: More Than a Month: For My 4th Grade Teacher, Mrs. James
This is a blog about how Black history has been taught. "The story of the Negro in America is the story of America. It is not a pretty story." by James Baldwin What points/contributions does a Black educator make to speak to how Black...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Assimilation and the Crucible of the City: Reading Guide: Two Stories
An excerpt from Abraham Cahan's novel, "Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto," and Charles Chesnutt's short story, "The Wife of His Youth," that describe challenges of assimilation into American culture for both European immigrants and...
Digital History
Digital History: The Black Legend
Read about the Black Legend which vilified the Spanish treatment of Indians they enslaved, resulting in the decimation of many Indian populations. Bartolome de Las Casas criticized the enslavement of Indians and suggested using African...
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Negro Holocaust: Lynching and Race Riots
A lesson unit with good background information for students. Details the history of lynching and race riots in America and the treatment of African-Americans from 1880 to 1950.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Historian's Perspective: Winning the Vote: History of Voting Rights
[Free Registration/Login Required] Historian-authored three-part overview looks at the history of voting rights in America, touching on all the critical moments in American history when voting rights were first denied then granted to...
PBS
Pbs News Hour: Interview With Secretary of State Rice
An interview conducted by Jim Lehrer. Topics included "Syria's presence in Lebanon, diplomatic efforts to end Iran's nuclear aspirations, the U.S. relationship with Europe, and her first months as America's top diplomat."
Other
Amistad Digital Resource: The Scottsboro Trial
Narrative examines the notorious trials of the Scottsboro Boys from 1931 through 1937 giving details about the prosecution, in Scottsboro, Alabama, of nine young African Americans charged with the rape of two white women. The trials...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Rhythms in Poetry: Claude Mc Kay
This is a succinct biography of Claude McKay, infamous Harlem Renaissance poet who expressed the need for the African American community in America to speak out against racism. See "Claude McKay Activities" for related materials.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: You Decide: Washington or Du Bois?
During the early Progressive Era, two leaders dominated the debate over the best course for racial advancement in America. Who had the better vision for improving the conditions of African Americans in the early 1900s, Booker T....
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Biography of Amer: A Different Perspective on Progressivism
Read this thought-provoking overview by historian Waldo E. Martin of progressivism as seen from the perspective of African Americans, Native Americans, and new Asian immigrants.
PBS
Pbs: Sweet Old Song (The Music of Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong)
Learn about and listen to jazz, blues, folk, and country musician Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong and his roots in America's musical past. "Sweet Old Song" tells the story of the music and art partnership between Armstrong and his...
Nobel Media AB
The Nobel Prize: Nelson Mandela Biographical
This brief biography from The Nobel Foundation on the life and struggles of Nelson Mandela, who, while in prison, "Was widely accepted as the most significant black leader in South America," includes several resources for further reading...
Teaching American History
Teaching American History: Document Library: Civil Rights Act of 1866
Read the complete text of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which set out guarantees for citizenship in post-Civil War America as well as the punishments for those who tried to obstruct these guarantees.
Country Studies US
Country Studies: The Latino Movement
Latinos in the US, like African Americans, were oftentimes discriminated against and forgotten about. Noticing African American activist techniques for recognition, many Latinos in the US began to organize and pressure the government for...
PBS
Liberty: Chronicle of the Revolution: Diversity
A brief look at the population increase in colonial America. Find out where all these immigrants came from and what they did in the colonies. From PBS.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Beginnings of Revolutionary Thinking: What Is the American?
Even colonial America was a melting pot of people from far away. Read about the diversity of the population and why it had an effect on the possibility of rebellion and revolution.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Benjamin Bradley
Learn about inventor and African-American slave, Benjamin Bradley, developer of a steam engine large enough to run the first steam-powered warship.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Religious Pluralism in the Middle Colonies
Essay looks at the phenomenon of religious pluralism in the middle colonies. Author discusses religious sects in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, as well as African Americans and Native Americans.
New Deal Network
New Deal Network: Journal of Negro Life: The New Deal and Housing
A 1934 article depicting the poor quality of housing in the larger cities of America and the Federal government's efforts to correct the problems.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Akron at Night by Teri Ellen Cross Davis
Teri Ellen Cross Davis is a poet who draws upon small, personal moments to explore large themes. Common subjects in her poetry include the experiences of women and people of color in America. This poem is from her 2016 collection Haint....
Yale University
Living Pictures Representing the History of Black Dance
A brief history of black dance in America, includes dance pioneers in jazz dance, ballet, and modern dance.