Almost every American is familiar with the Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education. Far fewer understand the constitutional reasoning or the wide-ranging consequences of the ruling in the field of criminology. The interesting...

Companion to a four-part PBS series about Jim Crow has a timeline with links to significant events and people, video and audio clips from the series, and in-depth backgrounders on Jim Crow issues and impacts.

On this site,students learn about the history of Jim Crow Laws including segregation in the South, example laws, grandfather clauses, black codes, and how they got the name Jim Crow.

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...

Segregation and Jim Crow laws codified a color line in the United States. African-Americans began pushing back against segregation in the 1950s and 1960s. Read about the non-violent actions taken and how these actions resulted in the...

Read about the background of the passage of the 14th Amendment which resulted in the famous case before the Supreme Court, Plessy v Ferguson, almost thirty years later. Suggested student exercises ask students to assess the issue of...

A detailed account of the history of African Americans is presented in this article. Divided by main topics or periods of time, the coming of slavery to America is the first focus. Followed by plantation life and escapes to freedom and...

With this timeline, learn about how the history of slavery, Jim Crow laws and other forms of racial oppression impacted the rise of jazz in America. Also highlights the achievements of women, including Viola Smith in this world of music....

A good overview of the many social and economic changes that occurred in the United States in the early 20th century. There are hyperlinks to information about the many social reforms, the sad state of race relations at the time, and the...

When four African American North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College students refused to leave the lunch-counter at the F.W. Woolworth store in Greensboro they started the first non-violent, "sit-in" movement. Although the...

Kids learn about the history of the Birmingham Campaign that was part of the Civil Rights movement for African Americans against segregation and southern Jim Crow laws on this light.

A very thorough explanation of the famous Supreme Court decision about Plessy v. Ferguson. It upheld the idea of "separate but equal," which was in effect until Brown v Board of Education in 1954. See who opposed the decision, and read...

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...

Read the background of the controversial Supreme Court decision in the Plessy v Ferguson case. Follow the arguments for and against "separate but equal." [pdf]

Overview of the challenges African Americans in the South faced and attempts to overcome the rising issues of discrimination and segregation after Reconstruction.

Article explaining what the Compromise of 1877 was, accompanied by a short video about the struggles of African-Americans after the Civil War.

An exhibit from the Texas State Library exploring the political achievements of African-Americans in the Texas state legislature and Constitutional Convention from 1865 through the 1890s.

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.

Kids learn about the history of the African-American Civil Rights Movement including segregation, Jim Crow laws, protests, Martin Luther King, and the passage of the Civil Rights Act on this site.

Kids learn about Civil Rights glossary and terms including segregation, Jim Crow laws, disabilities, apartheid, suffrage, poll tax, and more. Definitions and words you need to know.