Curated OER
Segregated America
Students investigate Jim Crow laws. In this segregation lesson, students analyze images that display American segregation. Students use the provided questions to aid them in their evaluation of the images.
Facing History and Ourselves
The Legacies of Reconstruction
The final lesson in the seven-resource Reconstruction Era collection examines the legacies of Reconstruction. Class members investigate why the period has been called an "unfinished revolution," "a splendid failure," and "the second...
Center for History and New Media
Growing Up in a Segregated Society, 1880s–1930s
What did segregation look like in the beginning of the 20th century? Middle and high schoolers view images of segregated areas, read passages by Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, and come to conclusions about how the influence of...
US House of Representatives
Hispanic-American Members of Congress in the Civil Rights Era, 1945–1977
New ReviewDebates around immigration in the news are not new, but they are a defining feature of the Hispanic American experience throughout the twentieth century. Looking through the lens of Hispanic Americans in Congress, class members explore...
Library of Congress
After Reconstruction: Problems of African Americans in the South
Lynchings, race riots, and Jim Crow laws were just a few examples of antagonism that African Americans faced after Emancipation. Class groups investigate these and other events, and prepare a presentation to inform the class about the...
Curated OER
African American Education in Virginia During the Jim Crow Era
Students read and analyze a letter writtine by Dolley Madison. They evaluate a cartoon. They evaluate portraits of Dolley and James Madison. They create an earlier version of the original letter based on the information they have gathered.
Curated OER
From Jim Crow to Linda Brown: A Retrospective of the African-American Experience from 1897 to 1953.
Students research the American Memory collection to explore the African-American experience from 1897 to 1953.
Curated OER
Upper class black society during Jim Crow
Students investigate upper class black society during the Jim Crow era by reading primary resources (newspaper articles, census data, photographs). They summarize and organize information on specific citizens in chart form.
Curated OER
Latinos and the Fourteenth Amendment: A Primary Document Activity
Students explore Latinos and the Fourteenth Amendment. In this government and law lesson, students analyze the ruling in Hernandez v. Texas. Students predict how the United States would be different if the court had made an alternated...
Curated OER
John Gary Evans and the Politics of Race
Students read letters written by Evans and Gunton regarding race relations. For this Progressive Movement lesson, students interpret the intentions and tone of the letters to understand contemporary racial beliefs. Students discuss the...
Curated OER
Language Arts, Social Studies, African Americans, The Blues, To Kill A Mockingbird
African American history during the Jim Crow era includes encounters with poverty, racism, disrespect, and protest. Harper Lee develops all four of these themes in her famous 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. To help students understand...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Raisin in the Sun: Whose "American Dream"?
How does Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun factor into a discussion of the American dream? High schoolers define the American dream and recognize the historical setting of the play. Additionally, they identify forms of...
Curated OER
Reconstruction: "Healing Wounds, Mending Fences"
Students examine material on the Civil War Era to develop an understanding of the major issues that were resolved. This six lessons unit provides a closer glimpse into our nation's political and ethical history.
US House of Representatives
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
New ReviewGroups select a photograph from one of the four eras of African Americans in Congress and develop a five-minute presentation that provides background information about the image as well as its historical significance. The class compares...
Center for History Education
African Americans and the Democratic Party
Why did African American voters switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic party during the Depression Era? That is the question young historians attempt to answer as they study primary source documents from the period. The focus...
US House of Representatives
Keeping the Faith: African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970
New ReviewThe third lesson in a unit that traces the history of African Americans serving in the US Congress examines the period from 1929 through 1970. After reading a contextual essay that details the few African Americans elected to Congress...
Digital Public Library of America
Ida B. Wells and Anti-Lynching Activism
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...
Curated OER
Perseverance
Students examine how the failure of Reconstruction led to the systematic passage of Jim Crow laws in states across the South and the negative impact these laws had on the growth and development of the US.
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Reconstruction
When slavery ended, what did the government do to help African American during Reconstruction? An interesting instructional activity uses primary sources such as newspaper articles to help scholars analyze Reconstruction policies and how...
Curated OER
Segregation: From Jim Crow to Linda Brown
Students examine the African American social, economic, and political conditions between 1896 and 1953. In this segregation activity, students analyze primary sources to develop an understanding of the plight of African Americans'...
Curated OER
Integration of Education
Learners explore the history of Civil Rights and how the struggle for Civil Rights and the Second Reconstruction, transformed society and politics in the United States in the 1950s. Then they identify why American Schools are integrated...
Curated OER
Civil Rights through Photographs
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 PowerPoint...
Center for History and New Media
The Daily Experience of the Laurel Grove School, 1925
What was daily life like for those attending segregated schools in 1925? Modern learners fill out a KWHL chart as they explore historical background and primary source documents about the Laurel Grove School in Fairfax County, Virginia....
Curated OER
Making Democracy Work for Everyone, 1877-1904
Young scholars investigate the culture of the post Reconstruction South. They participate in a jigsaw research activity, conduct Internet research on an assigned topic, and write a report to present to the class.