National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Plantation Community, Making of African American Identity: V. 1
Various retrospective oral accounts from the early-twentieth century and two narratives from the mid-nineteenth century that examine the work, interrelationships, dangers, and lives of slaves on southern plantations.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Fugitives, Making of African American Identity: V. 1
Oral and written narratives of the experiences of the Underground Railroad and documents identifying efforts by northern societies to free slaves during the 1850s.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Slave to Free, Making of African American Identity: V. 1
Interviews with and narratives from former slaves who became free and letters from former slaves reflecting on their freedom.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: School Publishers: Jackie Robinson
America honors Jackie Robinson's first year in baseball's major leagues. This site has a brief biography of Jackie Robinson and how he broke the race barrier.
My Hero Project
My Hero: Ruby Bridges
Chosen as a Freedom Hero, Ruby Bridges faced the incredible task of integrating an elementary school during the Civil Rights Movement.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Enslaved Peoples, American Beginnings: 1492 1690
Two Spanish accounts of enslaved Indians in the Caribbean and enslaved Africans in Mexico and statements of the difficulty of maintaining slavery and the lurking threat of a slave revolt.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Poetry of Liberation: Amiri Baraka
Poet and playwright Amiri Baraka is featured in this brief biography for his radical views and contributions during the Black Arts Movement in America. See "Amiri Baraka Activities" for related resources.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Culture & Change, Evolution of Black History
Explore the Black History in America in the lives of famous African Americans. Features include a clickable interactive timeline that highlights important events, accomplishments, and personalities from 1492 to 2001.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: More Than a Month: For My 4th Grade Teacher, Mrs. James
This is a blog about how Black history has been taught. "The story of the Negro in America is the story of America. It is not a pretty story." by James Baldwin What points/contributions does a Black educator make to speak to how Black...
PBS
Pbs: Sweet Old Song (The Music of Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong)
Learn about and listen to jazz, blues, folk, and country musician Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong and his roots in America's musical past. "Sweet Old Song" tells the story of the music and art partnership between Armstrong and his...
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Negro Holocaust: Lynching and Race Riots
A lesson unit with good background information for students. Details the history of lynching and race riots in America and the treatment of African-Americans from 1880 to 1950.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Historian's Perspective: Winning the Vote: History of Voting Rights
[Free Registration/Login Required] Historian-authored three-part overview looks at the history of voting rights in America, touching on all the critical moments in American history when voting rights were first denied then granted to...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: You Decide: Washington or Du Bois?
During the early Progressive Era, two leaders dominated the debate over the best course for racial advancement in America. Who had the better vision for improving the conditions of African Americans in the early 1900s, Booker T....
Other
Juneteenth.com: History of Juneteenth
Juneteenth.com discusses what Juneteenth is, its history, and its celebration. Content includes a look at why June 19, 1865, signifies the end of slavery in America, as opposed to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Akron at Night by Teri Ellen Cross Davis
Teri Ellen Cross Davis is a poet who draws upon small, personal moments to explore large themes. Common subjects in her poetry include the experiences of women and people of color in America. This poem is from her 2016 collection Haint....
Yale University
Living Pictures Representing the History of Black Dance
A brief history of black dance in America, includes dance pioneers in jazz dance, ballet, and modern dance.
PBS
Pbs: The Perilous Fight: America's World War Ii in Color
Online home of the PBS documentary "The Perilous Fight" provides access to an eclectic array of color photographs and films of World War II at home and abroad. Overviews, contextual clues, maps, letters, and similar resources can be...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: Becoming Modern: America in the 1920s: The Age
A collection of primary source material from the modern age, explores the 1920s and how it relates to today. Section includes introductory notes, classroom discussion questions, and supplemental links to related resources.
John F. Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center: What Is Jazz?
This eight-page tutorial on jazz answers several basic questions (what is jazz, how did it develop) and keeps the topic of the tutorial focused within the realm of the African American understanding of jazz and focusing on its impact on...
Country Studies US
Country Studies: The Latino Movement
Latinos in the US, like African Americans, were oftentimes discriminated against and forgotten about. Noticing African American activist techniques for recognition, many Latinos in the US began to organize and pressure the government for...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Benjamin Bradley
Learn about inventor and African-American slave, Benjamin Bradley, developer of a steam engine large enough to run the first steam-powered warship.
Alabama Humanities Foundation
Encyclopedia of Alabama: History: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Learn about the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., with links to many related topics about the struggle for equality in America.
Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press.
New Georgia Encyclopedia: Atlantic Slave Trade to Savannah
Encyclopedia article describing slavery in Colonial Georgia and the role that Savannah played in slave trade from 1755 to as late as 1858.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Aftermath: Postcards, African Americans Picking Cotton
Though given the right to vote, African-American men and women faced discrimination and racist practices that often prevented them from voting in the early 20th century. Read about some of these practices, and how, for example, the Texas...