National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: African American Communities in the North Before the Civil War
In this lesson plan, middle schoolers will consider "African-American Communities in the North Before the Civil War." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Forever Free: The 1860s: 19th Century African American Legislators of Texas
An exhibit from the Texas State Library exploring the political achievements of African-Americans in the Texas state legislature and Constitutional Convention from 1865 through the 1890s.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: African American Abolitionists
Read about three African-American abolitionists who worked alone and in concert with white abolitionists. The most radical was David Walker, who was the founder of radical abolitionism.
Read Works
Read Works: African American Leaders
[Free Registration/Login Required] This informational text passage shares facts about famous African American leaders. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for vocabulary acquisition are also...
PBS
Pbs: Free Black Revolutionary Patriots
Describes free African Americans who fought in the American Revolution. Also find related text: "Colin Powell on blacks fighting during the Revolutionary War," and a Teacher's Guide.
Read Works
Read Works: Famous African Americans Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
[Free Registration/Login Required] This biographical passage shares information about the famous African American named Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and...
Read Works
Read Works: African American Leaders
[Free Registration/Login Required] Mini-biographical information is shared about the following African American leaders in this passage: Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, and Condoleeza Rice. This passage is a...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Soldiers: Making of African American Identity: 1500 1865
Photographs of and letters from black soldiers-both enslaved and free-from the late-eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries that examine military experience for African Americans.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Free African Americans in the Colonial Era
Read about the ways some slaves gained their freedom and where they often lived once free.
Read Works
Read Works: Great Americans
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about five famous African Americans: Oprah Winfrey, Robert L. Curbeam Jr., Nikki Giovanni, Savion Glover, and Rosa Parks. A question sheet is available to help students build...
Read Works
Read Works: Famous African Americans Oprah Winfrey
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage contains biographical informationa about the multi-talented Ophrah Winfrey. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and...
PBS
Pbs Africans in America: The Boston Massacre
From its series entitled "Africans in America," PBS offers a comprehensive overview of the Boston Massacre from the viewpoint of the poor, the oppressed, and enslaved or free Africans. The article highlights how these individuals were...
Other
African American Pioneers: Richard Allen
This page from Afgen.com contains the life history of Richard Allen. Richard was the founding bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Artists, Making of African American Identity: V. 1
The artwork of four nineteenth-century free blacks expressed in portraits, landscapes, sculpture, and photography. Links to works from Joshua Johnson, Robert Scott Duncanson, Edmonia Lewis, and Augustus Washington are provided.
University of Nebraska
U. Of Nebraska: Railroads and Making of Modern America: Origins of Segregation
Primary source materials that focus on the segregation of African Americans that took place on the railroads in the 1800s. Content includes newspaper articles, anecdotal accounts, letters, legal cases, etc.
Read Works
Read Works: Famous African Americans Jackie Robinson
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage contains biographical information about the first African American to play in Major League Baseball, Jackie Robinson. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces...
Read Works
Read Works: Famous African Americans Malcolm X
[Free Registration/Login Required] Biographical information is contained in this passage regarding the African American activist, Malcom X. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and...
Read Works
Read Works: African American Newsmakers
[Free Registration/Login Required] This site includes mini-biographical paragraphs about some famous African American people, and the people featured include the following: Wynton Marsalis, Ophrah Winfrey, Condoleeza Rice, Muhammad Ali,...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: David Walker vs John Day: Two Nineteenth Century Free Black Men
In this lesson plan, students will consider "David Walker vs. John Day: Two Nineteenth-Century Free Black Men." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Forever Free: The 1870s: Education
Read about the development of free education for African Americans following the emancipation of this enslaved population. This article focuses on schools in Texas, including what is now known as Texas A&M University. Includes a...
Digital History
Digital History: African American Churches
African American churches served black congregations. Read about the several church denominations that were established in the early 1800s.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Forever Free: 19th Century African American Legislators: 1880s Repression
This several page article recounts the black legislators in the Texas Congress and their attempts to address many issues affecting the African Americans in the state. Read about the Ku Klux Klan, convict leases, and segregation on railroads
Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors: Web English Teacher: Langston Hughes
This resource focuses on the works of famous African-American author, Langston Hughes.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Forever Free: The 1870s: Matthew Gaines
Read about Matthew Gaines, an African American state senator from Texas during Reconstruction. Learn about where he stood on issues such as integrated education and taxation of specific groups, and why he was removed from office.