Thomson Reuters
Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1955)
Transcript of the Supreme Court's opinion in the 1955 Brown II case decision, which placed increased emphasis on implementing the 1954 Brown decision to desegregate public schools, thus overturning the 1896 decision in Plessy vs....
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: Plessy vs. Ferguson
Transcript of the infamous Supreme Court decision that established the constitutionality of the principle of "Separate but equal," public facilities for members of different races. This was eventually overturned by the 1954 and 1955...
Black Past
Black Past: Meredith, James
A brief encyclopedia entry about James Meredith, the first black to integrate the University of Mississippi. A link will take you to a website so you can see the papers he donated to Old Miss.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of African Art: Contemporary African Art
An exhibition of contemporary African art that pulls together the work of 28 artists from 15 different countries. Read artist biographies, view representative works, and think about two prominent themes that emerge from the collection:...
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Little Rock Nine
Learn detailed facts about the Little Rock Nine crisis, the refusal to admit 9 African American students to the racially segregated Little Rock Central High in Arkansas in 1957.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Separate Is Not Equal: White Only
This section from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History's exhibition Separate Is Not Equal: Brown v. Board of Education gives the history of Jim Crow laws and how they affected not only the voting rights of...
Other
Civil Rights Greensboro: Greensboro Sit Ins at Woolworth's
A very detailed description of the sit-ins at the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth's store and other businesses in that city during the first part of 1960. These sit-ins were to call attention to the segregation of public businesses...
USA Today
Minorities Make a Choice to Live With Their Own
Intriguing article explaining the trend illustrated through the 2000 Census information that minorities have broken segregation ties but still choose to live in areas with other members of their racial background.
PBS
Pbs: L. Hansberry: A Raisin in the Sun: Jim Crow, Home Ownership, American Dream
Learn how Jim Crow laws impacted home ownership and the pursuit of the American Dream in this series of videos from the American Masters film, Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart. Lorraine Hansberry's family was at the...
Other
Encyclopedia Virginia: Civil Rights Act of 1964
A detailed look at the Civil Rights Act of 1964, paying particular attention to how Virginia Representative Howard W. Smith added an amendment intended to kill the act by making it cover gender discrimination as well as racial. Read...
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Freedom Riders
Article provides numerous detailed facts and a summary of the Freedom Riders who boarded their buses in May 1961 to test segregation on interstate buses and bus terminals in the South.
The History Cat
The History Cat: The Jim Crow Era: The Life and Death of Jim Crow
Looks at how Southerners continued to discriminate against blacks after the Civil War through Black Codes, or Jim Crow laws, which permitted practices such as segregation in public places and requiring literacy tests in order to vote.
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: Eugene "Bull" Connor
Brief biographical details on Eugene "Bull" Connor, Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham, AL in 1961. He was an ultra-segregationist with close ties to the KKK known for enforcing racial segregation and denying civil rights to...
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Jim Crow Laws
Learn about the Jim Crow Laws, Southern laws that legalized segregation.
PBS
Pbs: African American World History
Featuring an excerpt from a memoir written by Ruby Bridges telling of her experience as the first African American child to attend an all white elementary school in New Orleans in the year 1960.
NBC
Nbc Learn: Finishing the Dream: 1955 56: Buses and Boycotts
A collection of archival video clips covering the early days of the civil rights movement in the United States. Looks at reaction to the lynching of a teenager named Emmett Till in Chicago, Rosa Park's protest, the Montgomery Bus...
Duke University
Conscience of a Nation: John Hope Franklin on African American History
An exhibition on African-American history that is inspired by the work of John Hope Franklin (1915-2009), an African-American scholar who studied the historical roots of racial prejudice. The exhibit presents primary documents, texts,...
National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: Ruby Bridges
A biographical look at Ruby Bridges who became famous at six years of age by being the first Black child to attend a desegregated school in America.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: A History of Us: Webisode 14: Let Freedom Ring
Series episode covers the civil rights movement and the struggle for equality in post-World War II America.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Activist
Through two primary source activities and a short video, students will learn about Parks' lifelong commitment to the Civil Rights Movement.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Civil Rights Movement
This activity on the Civil Rights movement is organized into three sections: "Identifying the Need for Change," "Ordinary People in the Civil Rights Movement," and "Historic Places in the Civil Rights Movement."
University of Groningen
American History: Documents: Plessy v. Ferguson 1896
View this document to access background information and the opinions of the Supreme Court in the Plessy v. Ferguson case (1896).
Other
Apartheid Museum: Understanding Apartheid
This is an extensive teaching and study unit on apartheid in South Africa, complete with teacher notes and assessment materials. It looks at the historical roots of apartheid until the release from prison of Nelson Mandela in 1990. It...