Lesson Plan
Atlanta History Center

What if YOU Lived During Jim Crow?

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Young historians envision what life was like for African Americans living in the Jim Crow South through hands-on, experiential activities. 
Handout
PBS

Democracy in Action: Freedom Riders

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
This is a must-have resource for every social studies teacher covering the civil rights movement. Through an engaging video and detailed viewing guide, young historians learn about the Freedom Riders, and discover how everyday...
Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Afro American Council (1898 1907)

For Students 9th - 10th
An article about the founding of the Afro-American Council in 1898 and its goals for addressing rising violence against African Americans.
Handout
TexasHistory.com

Texas history.com: African Americans in Uniform on the Texas Frontier

For Students 9th - 10th
Examines the history of the buffalo soldiers in Texas after the Civil War, the obstacles they faced due to racism, and how other African Americans perceived them.
Handout
History Link

Bertha Pitts Campbell: An Oral History

For Students 9th - 10th
From the Washington State Oral History Project comes this captivating interview with Bertha Pitts Campbell, an African American woman and early Seattle civil rights worker. Campbell talks about the discrimination and segregation she...
Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Robeson, Paul

For Students 9th - 10th
This encyclopedia entry tells about Paul Robeson, famous baritone, and his struggles for racial equality. A link to a website for more information on African-Americans is provided.
Handout
Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The 1890s: End of an Era and the Quest for Civil Rights

For Students 9th - 10th
Part of an online exhibit called "Forever Free," this section deals with African Americans' efforts to establish themselves in society, despite increases in racism. Addresses topics such as Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws, and voting rights.
Handout
Digital History

Digital History: To the Heart of Dixie

For Students 9th - 10th
In the early 1960s civil rights activists put the ban on segregation to the test. In 1961, "Freedom riders," boarded buses headed south to test the federal ban on segregated travel. And in 1962, the University of Mississippi was ordered...
Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Buxton, Iowa

For Students 9th - 10th
This is an interesting encyclopedia article about the multi-ethnic town of Buxton, Iowa, a coal-mining town with little racial discrimination.
Handout
Digital History

Digital History: The Civil Rights Movement Moves North

For Students 9th - 10th
Summers of the late 1960s was a time of widespread violence and rioting in the nation's major inner cities. What was previously thought of as a problem of the South had spread nation-wide and was now demanding immediate attention.
Handout
Digital History

Digital History: Simple Justice

For Students 9th - 10th
Follow the civil rights quest for integrated schools from the beginning in 1849 through the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. the Topeka Board of Education and the struggle that ensued for decades following in the most reluctant...
Handout
ESPN Internet Ventures

Espn: Hank Aaron: Hammerin' Back at Racism

For Students 9th - 10th
From ESPN, an article describing the career of record-setting home run king Hank Aaron. Along with the records, Aaron received an abundance of racist hate mail.
Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Hughes, Langston

For Students 9th - 10th
This encyclopedia article is a brief biography of Langston Hughes, the influential poet during the Harlem Renaissance.
Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Bert Williams

For Students 9th - 10th
This encyclopedia article gives a good overview of the life of Bert Williams, a black entertainer of the early 1900's who broke many color lines.
Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Civil Rights Congress (1946 1956)

For Students 9th - 10th
This encyclopedia entry talks about the Civil Rights Congress, a group that gave legal defense for blacks, but was hampered by its support of the Communist Party during the Cold War.
Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Fisk Jubilee Singers

For Students 9th - 10th
In this interesting encyclopedia article, you can read about the beginning of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a gospel group which performed spirituals all over the country and the world.
Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Marshall, Thurgood

For Students 9th - 10th
This very brief encyclopedia entry gives a short overview of Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court judge.
Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Mingus, Charles

For Students 9th - 10th
In this encyclopedia entry, you learn about Charles Mingus, jazz bassist and composer.
Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Newton, Huey

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief encyclopedia entry about the life of Black Panther, Huey Newton.
Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Whitney Young, Jr.

For Students 9th - 10th
This encyclopedia article gives biographical information about Whitney Young, civil rights leader and president of the National Urban League.
Handout
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Augusta Savage

For Students 9th - 10th
Read interesting facts about the life of American sculptor and educator, Augusta Savage, who battled racism to secure a place for African American women in the art world.
Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Emmett Till

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the tragic case of Emmett Till, an African American teenager who was viciously murdered in 1955. The case forced the public to see the brutality of the racism that was rampant in the South and it fueled the civil rights movement.
Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: The Dark Side of Suburbia

For Students 9th - 10th
The suburbs were not idyllic for some. Women found the conformity of them restrictive and African Americans were usually barred from living in them.
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: The California Gold Rush

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the events that led to the California Gold Rush, the lives of the miners, the discrimination faced by Chinese immigrant miners and African Americans, the women who mostly stayed behind when their husbands went west as well as...