After the Civil War and end of slavery, Americans had to decide how to integrate freed African Americans. Learn about the lives of African Americans from Reconstruction to the end of the prejudiced Jim Crow era. This collection includes...

Find Jim Crow laws, see signs, and read restrictive covenants that restricted freedom of movement, housing, and use of public facilities by African Americans in the late 19th and 20 centuries.

Read "Jim Crow Laws" to establish your understanding of the text, and to see how they impacted African Americans.

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...

Maya Angelou recounts her coming of age story as a mature but apprehensive girl in the American South and California during the Jim Crow era. Selected (8) reading passages (grades 7-10) to pair with "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by...

[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read about Rosa Parks and her non-violent protest of segregation laws in the South. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.

Selected (8) reading passages (grades 6-10) to pair with "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" by Mildred D. Taylor. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry tells the story of the Logan family combating racial tension and segregation in Mississippi during...

The summer of 1919 saw race riots in many cities, for the most part started by whites. Read about the causes and results of these riots.

Ninth graders will be introduced to Maslow's hierarchy of needs and will explore how this hierarchy relates to the needs that humans have. Students will also be introduced to background information about the South during Jim Crow through...

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...

Richard Wright, a black boy living in the Jim Crow South, travels north in hopes of escaping the violence and prejudice that rules his childhood. Selected (8) reading passages (grades7-12) to pair with "Black Boy" by Richard Wright....

In this video segment from The Supreme Court, learn about the 1883 Supreme Court decision that marked the end of federal protections for individuals in states and the beginning of Jim Crow segregation.

"Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry", by Mildred D. Taylor is a riveting, Newbery Award winning novel, about a family living in the 1930s Jim Crow South. Make a smart choice by reading your favorite novel with a BookFiles reading guide. The...

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]

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.

This site provides a biography of Langston Hughes, followed by several of his poems (some complete with audio clips) and a bibliography of his more influential works.

This resource focuses on the works of famous African-American author, Langston Hughes.