Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: A New Civil Rights Movement

For Students 5th - 8th
A very brief overview of the inception of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s, its successes and failures into the 1960s, and a prediction of despair in the 1970s.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Others Demand Equality

For Students 5th - 8th
Many other groups learned how to push for their civil rights from African Americans' civil rights movement. Read about the Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and gays as they worked to achieve equal treatment under the law.
Website
Other

Encyclopedia Virginia: Civil Rights Act of 1964

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
Website
Northern Illinois University

Illinois Periodicals Online: Everett Dirksen and the 1964 Civil Rights Act

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the use of the filibuster in the U.S. Senate as a way to control legislation.In the discussion of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the longest filibuster in history was launched as a way to keep the legislation from coming to a...
Website
Stanford University

Mlk and the Global Freedom Struggle: Civil Rights Act of 1964

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about President John F. Kennedy's role in attempting to outlaw segregation, and, after Kennedy's assassination, President Johnson's role in making that happen with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Website
Other

Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement: History & Timeline, 1960: Sit Ins

For Students 9th - 10th
A turbulant time during U.S. history, read about the lunch counter sit-ins of the 1960s.
Website
US House of Representatives

History, Art, and Archives: The Civil Rights Act of 1957

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the role of President Eisenhower in the impetus for the support of civil rights in 1957.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Black Power

For Students 5th - 8th
The black power movement moved away from the nonviolence advocated by Martin Luther King, Jr. and his associates. Read about the formation of the Black Panther Party, and find their party platform. Take the brief quiz about history of...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Gains and Pains

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about the legal gains made by the civil rights movement, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, juxtaposed against the real-life actions meant to deny African Americans their right to racial equality not just legally, but...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Showdown in Little Rock

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about President Eisenhower's decision to send federal troops to Arkansas to enforce the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock. See why that action was necessary, and how Central High School fit into the larger Civil...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Martin Luther King, Jr.

For Students 5th - 8th
A brief biography of civil rights hero, Martin Luther King, Jr. This article touches on his early life, but focuses on his actions as a leader of nonviolent change to bring equality to African Americans. Find a speech given by Robert...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Sit in Movement

For Students 4th - 8th
Just like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the first sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter was the beginning of a nonviolent movement to challenge "white only" laws. Read about how the sit-in movement spread across the South. See how...
Website
PBS

Pbs: This Far by Faith: The Black Arts Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
From PBS this is "The Black Arts Movement" as part of the series "This Far by Faith", which examines the role of faith in the civil rights cultural movement from the 1940s through 1960s in the U.S..
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: w.e.b. Du Bois

For Students 5th - 8th
Read a brief biography of W.E.B. DuBois, who was an early civil rights activist and supporter of equal opportunity and treatment for African-Americans. See how he acted on his beliefs. Included is a brief quiz about the Progressive Era.
Website
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Harcourt: Biographies: Martin Luther King, Jr. [In Spanish]

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource offers a review of the life of this important man in the Civil Rights Movement. King believed in peaceful protests, instead of violence, to solve social problems. (In Spanish)
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Kennedy's New Frontier

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about John Kennedy's vision for America upon his becoming president. Find out about the space race with the Soviet Union, and expanded social programs for the poor and elderly in America.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Separate No Longer?

For Students 5th - 8th
An explantion of how the Supreme Court decision in Brown v Board of Education of Topeka turned the concept of separate but equal on its head. See how they determined that the 14th Amendment was being violated when schools did not fund...
Website
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Harcourt: Biographies: Cesar Chavez

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about this leader who helped bring many important changes for farm workers in the U.S. Following the peaceful examples of King and Ghandi, Cesar Chavez helped much needed improvements take place.
Website
PBS

Pbs: News Hour Extra: 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Turns Fifty

For Students 9th - 10th
Background on the history of the novel, 'To Kill a Mockingbird', banned in many U.S. school districts for many years, but now recognized as one of the greatest American novels. (July 14, 2010)
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Shaping a New America

For Students 5th - 8th
A brief overview of the protest movements in the 1960s and 1970s.
Website
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum

Jfk Library: Jfk in History

For Students 9th - 10th
Take a look at this extensive collection from John Kennedy's presidency. Among many events, discover history of Bay of Pigs, Civil Rights Movement, and the U.S. Physical Fitness Program.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: America's Story: The Modern Era

For Students 3rd - 8th
For a brief overview of the period after World War II until the present, visit this Library of Congress resource. Learn about the Cold War and the first man to walk on the moon.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: America's Story: Amazing Americans

For Students 3rd - 8th
Checklist of inventors, politicians, performers, activists, and ordinary people who made America. Meet Harry Houdini, Langston Hughes, Buffalo Bill Cody and dozens of other famous and interesting American adventurers, presidents,...