Can sports and popular culture change public opinion? That's the essential question asked by a lesson plan that looks at the role Jackie Robinson's appearance at City Island Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Florida played in the desegregation...

Two Supreme Court cases, Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education take center stage in a lesson about the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Class members research both cases to compare and contrast the rulings.

The war on drugs doesn't have definite results. An interesting lesson examines the social, political, and economic effect of the war on drugs. Academics learn how the war on drugs has led to mass incarcerations and negatively affected...

Two powerful video clips launch a study of race relations in the United States after the Selma, Alabama riots, the passage of the Votings Rights Act, and the riots in Watts, California. 

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Four video clips reveal the events of that time, including the shift in the focus of the Civil Rights Movement, the aftermath of the assassination, and...

A primary source set of photographs, videos, newspaper articles, and FBI reports provides insight into race relations during the 1960s, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, and the murder of Emmitt Till. Designed to be used to...

A packet of 13 primary sources provides young historians with insight into the anti-lynching activism of civil rights Ida B. Wells. Included are images of Wells, her letters, a political cartoon, newspaper lynching announcements, and a...

Despite the passing of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, as well as the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the struggle to ensure fair voter registration and election procedures continues. Young historians...

What was life like in the American South following the Civil War? Scholars watch a video that discusses the aftermath of the Civil War and the events during the Reconstruction Period. Additionally, they continue reading Carlotta Walls...

How do incidents in A Mighty Long Way provoke the author, Carlotta Walls LaNier, to make certain decisions that shape her story? Scholars engage in a close reading of the memoir, analyzing events in US history and Carlotta's personal...

Students examine why racial tensions continued after laws were put into place to try and create equal treatment.  In this two part Civil Rights lesson, students explored the causes of the movement through photography and a...

Students study the causes and effects of slavery and segregation. They write an essay (including either pictures, charts, graphs or copies of documents to support their essay) which addresses the African American's journey from slavery...

Young scholars research the U.S. Supreme Court case that forced the integration of public schools and meet the individuals who experienced segregation, fought to dismantle the institution, and integrated the public school system of New...

Students examine the origins and effects of Jim Crow laws and how specific legislation supported segregation. The lesson provides foundational, historical background for unit on the media's role in the social justice campaign of the...

Students recognize the power of protest. In this civil rights lesson, students consider the success of Rosa Parks and her protest that sparked the movement. Students study the Montgomery Bus Boycott in depth and reflect on Parks's...

Students examine periods and instances of racial disharmony in the aftermath of segregation in the South, and de facto segregation in the North. They analyze causes of antagonism between racial groups and explore possible solutions.

Students explore desegregation in the courts. In this civil rights lesson, students listen to their instructor present a lecture on Supreme Court cases Brown v. Board of Education and Plessy v. Ferguson. Students examine the...

Students examine and respond to the text, The Bus Ride. For this African-American literature lesson, students explore pre-reading questions that focus on fairness of laws. Students read the text based on Rosa Parks and answer 11...

Students describe the effect of segregation on black and white children. They explain how these effects were proven in court.Students describe the effects that are still being felt today and what we can do to counteract them.

The feelings and attitudes of African-Americans during World War II are examined by high schoolers. After watching various clips from "The War," they answer comprehension questions for each section. In groups, they create their own...

Eleventh graders examine the issues surrounding Brown vs. Board of Education.  In this American Government lesson, 11th graders study the key civil rights legislation passed in 1964 and 1965.

Aaron Douglas, Meta Warrick Fuller, Palmer Hayden, William Johnson, and James Lesesne Wells, the painters and sculptors of the Harlem Renaissance, are featured in a unit study of artists of the Harlem Renaissance.

Students investigate African-American baseball players from the early 20th century. They read an article, answer discussion questions, write a journal entry, and create a poster-size baseball card for an athlete.

Review one of the most memorable cases in the history of the United States. After reading To Kill A Mockingbird, young scholars read and select court transcripts and other primary source material from the Scottsboro Boys Trial of 1933....