Pace University
The Harlem Renaissance - The Journey to Freedom: An Interdisciplinary
The Harlem Renaissance if the focus of a carefully crafted, interdisciplinary unit designed to introduce middle schoolers to the contributions key figures made to American art and culture during the period. Class members select...
University of Richmond
Renewing Inequality: Family Displacements through Urban Renewal 1950-1966
What is progress? Who bears its cost? High schoolers consider the questions as they review data on families displaced by urban renewal projects in the 1950s and 1960s. An interactive, curated data project asks historians to consider the...
National WWII Museum
Race and War in the Pacific: A Propaganda Gallery Walk
Race played a key role in the war in the Pacific during World War II. Using images from both American and Japanese sources, learners consider racial propaganda and how leaders used it to rally popular support during the conflict. After...
National WWII Museum
More Than Words Can Say: Analyzing Visual Materials as Primary Sources
The propaganda of World War II was a key factor in galvanizing the home front. Class members examine images—without their text—to consider their messages, including those around race and gender. Using pictures and discussion questions,...
K20 Learn
American Exclusivity: The Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act—the first race-based immigration restriction—is echoed in today's debates on the topic. Using graphic organizers and structured discussions, historians consider the reasons behind the act and compare the...
C-SPAN
14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause
Two Supreme Court cases, Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education take center stage in a lesson about the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Class members research both cases to compare and contrast the rulings.
C-SPAN
Polling and Public Opinion
Polls are ubiquitous in American politics, but just how reliable and equal are they? A video-driven resource helps learners discuss the question by examining what pollsters and pundits say. Extension activities involve evaluating the...
Facing History and Ourselves
Interracial Democracy
Radical Reconstruction, the 10-year period referred to after Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867, saw the establishment of manhood suffrage, men voting without any racial qualifications. Southern states also rewrote their...
Facing History and Ourselves
Violence and Backlash
Revolution and counterrevolution. Protest and counter-protest. Collaborators and bystanders. The focus of the fifth resource in the Reconstruction Era and Fragility of Democracy series is on the political violence that followed Radical...
Teaching for Change
History Detectives: Voting Rights in Mississippi, 1964
Promises made and promise broken. Spies and activists. Voting rights in Mississippi are the focus of a lesson that has class members research the history of the struggle in Mississippi. Learners take on the role of voting rights...
Teaching Tolerance
Thanksgiving Mourning
Two primary sources, a speech, and an article provide tweens and teens with different perspectives of the American Thanksgiving holiday. After analyzing Wamsutta James' suppressed speech and Jacqueline Keeler's article, class members use...
PBS
Keep Your Head Up | Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise
Change may be slow in coming, but things do change. Oprah Winfrey and Black Entertainment Television CEO, Robert L. Johnson, discuss the opportunities available to them due to the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil...
C-SPAN
Civil Rights Movement: Sit-Ins
Part of the protests of the Civil Rights Movement were small scale sit-ins at lunch counters. This form of on-the-ground activism is the focus of a C-SPAN resource that includes four video-clips about the sit-ins by pupils at a lunch...
DocsTeach
Analyzing a Letter from Jackie Robinson: "Fair Play and Justice"
Jackie Robinson was more than a baseball legend; he was an activist, too. An interesting resource explores Robinson's time in the military using primary sources. Scholars examine the racially inspired event that led to a court martial...
National Park Service
The Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March: Shaking the Conscience of the Nation
Travel back in time to examine how tragic events can spur positive change. Scholars explore the impact of the Selma Voting Rights March, including the tragic loss of life and the later signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Academics...
C-SPAN
1968: The Poor People's Campaign
The Poor People's Campaign of 1968 marked a shift in the civil rights movement to economic issues. Speakers in four C-SPAN video clips discuss different aspects of the campaign including Resurrection City, the Economic Bill of Rights,...
US House of Representatives
Keeping the Faith: African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970
The 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...
US House of Representatives
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Groups 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...
Curated OER
Northern Racism and the New York City Draft Riots of 1865
Students analyze primary source illustrations and personal accounts of the New York City Draft riots. They draw conclusions about the existence and power of Northern racism toward African Americans
University of the Desert
Why Is Cultural Diversity a Positive Thing?
From more empathetic individuals to greater tolerance in government, learners explore the benefits of a culturally diverse world through a series of collaborative, discussion-based activities.
National Park Service
Lesson 3: Resistance
During the time of slavery, resistance was a way of life for the men and women held in bondage. Using music as evidence of their fight against oppression, learners explore how enslaved people fought back. Writing prompts round out the...
Curated OER
Breaking the Color Barrier: Jackie Robinson's Combat Against Racism
Students explore Jackie Robinson's career. In this 20th century American history lesson, students complete the provided analysis questions based on the provided primary documents about Jackie Robinson. Students discuss Jackie' Robinson's...
Curated OER
What Does Racism Mean in Europe Today?
Students consider race relations in modern-day Europe. In this current events lesson, students visit selected websites to understand the impact of Nazi symbolism, the Holocaust denial, and the stories of Holocaust survivors.
Curated OER
More Simulations: Decisions, Decisions! and Flat Stanley
Students investigate the concepts related to instructing students using Flat Stanley in the Social Studies classroom. They examine the different instructional materials and are shown how to present the material to class. The focus is...