Virginia Historical Society
Virginia Historical Society: Home Front: How Did Slaves Support the Confederacy?
Read about the different roles that slaves and freed blacks took on in Virginia during the Civil War. They provided labor while the white men were away fighting and they helped with the military efforts. Many took the opportunity to...
US National Archives
Docsteach: Integration of the u.s. Armed Forces
Students will draw upon the visual and textual data presented in photographs and documents to gain an understanding of the participation of African Americans in the U.S. Armed Forces and of changes in American military policy regarding...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Separate Is Not Equal: The Quest for Education
Part of a larger piece on Segregated America, this section focus is on the commitment and perseverance of African Americans in the post-Civil War South to overcome the obstacles standing in the way of an education. Offers teachers and...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: A National Struggle: Congress
This two-page segment of a larger PBS site about Jim Crow discusses the role of Congress over close to 100 years in first entrenching Jim Crow laws in the law of the land, and eventually, through the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and the...
University of Virginia
Explorations in Black Leadership: Amiri Baraka
A short biography of African American writer Amiri Baraka and an interview with him conducted by Julian Bond available in video download or script format. With insight into influential people in his life, career development, influence of...
Scholastic
Scholastic News: Memories of Mandela
Learn about the life and passing of 95-year-old political leader and civil rights activist Nelson Mandela.
PBS
Pbs: God in America: The Black Church
A good look at the role of the church and religion in the history of African Americans. Find out the church's importance in the abolition movement and the civil rights movement.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Booker T. Washington: Orator, Teacher, and Advisor
Through two primary source activities and watching a short video, students will learn about Booker T. Washington's commitment to African American education, and assess his ideas about how to achieve equality for African Americans in the...
Other
Women and Social Movements: "Intellectual Progress of Colored Women"
Transcript of Anna Julia Cooper's discussion of "The Intellectual Progress of Colored Women of the United States Since the Emancipation Proclamation," presented to The World's Congress of Representational Women in 1894. In it, she...
US National Archives
National Archives: Confronting Work Place Discrimination on the Wwii Homefront
African Americans were not able to take advantage of the booming industries as Americans were mobilizing for WWII. The FEPC was established to make sure Roosevelt's executive order providing for equal opportunities in defense industries...
Other
San Francisco Unified School District: Teaching #Blacklivesmatter
A library research guide with a huge collection of links to articles, lesson plans, readings, poetry, and official documents. They explore the experiences of African Americans and the evolution and purpose of the Black Lives Matter...
OpenStax
Open Stax: Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal 1932 1941: The Second New Deal
Examines the legislation enacted under Roosevelt's Second New Deal, and how the New Deal as a whole affected women, African Americans, and Native Americans.
Digital History
Digital History: The Great Society and the Drive for Black Equality
Read about President Lyndon Johnson's vision for the Great Society. See how the programs instituted were focused on lifting the poor from poverty, especially African Americans. Included were laws to increase civil rights and voting...
Cosmo Learning
Cosmo Learning: World Revolutions
Consisting of twenty-six video lectures taught by Professor Thomas O'Brien, this course focuses on the causes and effects of modern revolutions from the English Civil War of the 17th century to the Iranian Revolution at the end of the...
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Activism in the Us
American sociopolitical activism became especially prominent during the period of societal upheaval which began during the 1950s. The African American civil rights movement led the way, soon followed by a substantial anti-war movement...
History Tools
Historical Sources Online: Booker T. Washington's "Atlanta Compromise" [Pdf]
Read the text of the speech delivered in Atlanta by Booker T. Washington on September 18, 1895, in which he attempted to reassure the mostly white audience that African Americans were looking for economic opportunities, not civil rights....
Other
American National Biography Online: Armstrong, Samuel Chapman
Biography of Samuel C. Armstrong, founder of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute during Reconstruction, to educate African Americans after the Civil War. Hampton is now Hampton University.
US National Archives
Our Documents: Voting Rights Act (1965)
Included at this site is the complete text and images of the original document of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This law outlawed the discriminatory voting practices that African Americans had endured.
BBC
Bbc News: Week of 5 26 14: Obituary: Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was not only a poet but also many other things including a teacher, civil rights activist, abuse survivor, mother and dancer. Learn about her remarkable life and why her work is so significant to many people.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: The Importance of Muhammad Ali
[Free Registration/Login Required] Learn about the life and career of famous boxer Muhammad Ali while exploring his role in the civil rights movement. Also, discover his views on religion and politics and his legacy for being a positive...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "I Have a Dream" by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech to over 250,000 people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In this speech, King discusses racial...
Other
Sherman's March and America: Mapping Memory
A collection of five interactive maps that each focus on a different perspective of Sherman's March to the Sea. These include a factual map, one that looks at African Americans and Southern civilians, one about travel, one on soldiers,...
Other
Apri: Biographical Notes, A. Philip Randolph 1889 1979
An in-depth biography on A. Philip Randolph gives details about his family, childhood, and his life dedicated to the fight for civil, labor, and human rights.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Race and Voting in the Segregated South
Article and activity in which students read and analyze the historic challenges faced by African Americans as they sought to gain an unimpeded right to vote in the segregated South followed by activity asking students to evaluate current...