Civil Rights Movements
Teaching Activity PDFs
‘If There Is No Struggle…’: Teaching a People’s History of the Abolition Movement
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 16 pages.
A role play putting students in the position of abolitionist groups working together to end slavery.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery
Seneca Falls, 1848: Women Organize for Equality
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 17 pages.
A role play allows students to examine issues of race and class when exploring both the accomplishments and limitations of the Seneca Falls Convention.
Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Women's History
Unsung Heroes: Encouraging Students to Appreciate Those Who Fought for Social Justice
Teaching Activity PDF. Essay by Howard Zinn and lesson by Bill Bigelow. 11 pages.
Students research and share stories about unsung heroes in U.S. history.
Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History
Warriors Don’t Cry: Connecting History, Literature, and Our Lives
Teaching Activity PDF. By Linda Christensen. 21 pages.
Role play and writing activities for language arts and social studies on the Little Rock Nine, Brown v. Board, and schooling in general. Designed for use with the memoir, Warriors Don’t Cry.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Language Arts, Racism & Racial Identity
“A School Year Like No Other”: Eyes on the Prize: “Fighting Back: 1957-1962″
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 7 pages.
A companion lesson to the Eyes on the Prize segment on school integration.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
School Days: Hail, Hail, Rock ‘n’ Roll!
Teaching Activity PDF. By Rick Mitchell. 10 pages.
Description of a course on the history of music in the U.S.
Art & Music, Civil Rights Movements, Racism & Racial Identity
Pump Up the Blowouts: Reflections on the 40th Anniversary of the Chicano/a School Blowouts
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gilda L. Ochoa. 5 pages.
Reflections on teaching students about the 1968 walkouts by Chicano students in California.
Civil Rights Movements, Education, Latino, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
Lessons in Solidarity: Grady Hospital Workers United
Teaching Activity PDF. By Larry Miller. 6 pages.
Story and discussion questions about a teacher’s own experience of labor solidarity.
“We Had Set Ourselves Free”: Lessons on the Civil Rights Movement
Teaching Activity PDF. By Doug Sherman. 4 pages.
The author describes how he uses biographies and film to introduce students to the role of people involved in the Civil Rights Movement beyond the familiar heroes. He emphasizes the role and experiences of young people in the Movement.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
A Revolution of Values
Teaching Activity PDF. By the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 3 pages.
Text of speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the Vietnam War, followed by three teaching ideas.
Civil Rights Movements, Imperialism, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
‘What We Want, What We Believe’: Teaching with the Black Panthers’ Ten Point Program
Teaching Activity PDF. By Wayne Au. 7 pages.
The author describes how he used a study of the Black Panther’s Ten Point Program to help students assess issues in their own communities and to develop Ten Point Programs of their own.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
The Other Internment: Teaching the Hidden Story of Japanese Latin Americans During WWII
Teaching Activity PDF. By Moé Yonamine. 18 pages.
Poetry, photography, and text are used in this role play to teach about the often untold history of Japanese Latin American internment during WWII.
Asian American, Civil Rights Movements, Criminal Justice, Democracy & Citizenship, Immigration, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, World History/Global Studies
Stenciling Dissent: A Student Project Draws on the Language of the Streets
Teaching Activity PDF. By Andrew Reed. 5 pages.
Teaching activity connects students to history of art as a means of protest and gives them opportunity and skills to create their own stencil with a powerful message.
Art & Music, Civil Rights Movements, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing
The Black Upsurge Against Racial Segregation
Teaching Activity PDF. By Tasha Boettcher. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 17 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the long Civil Rights Movement in America.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
Hidden in Plain Sight: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Radical Vision
Teaching Activity. By Craig Gordon. 2003. Urban Dreams and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project.
Lesson to introduce students to the speeches and work of Dr. King beyond “I have a dream.”
Women, Gays, and Other Voices of Resistance
Teaching Activity PDF. By Jack Bareilles. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 19 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the emergence and legacy of the 1960s counterculture, as well as the movements it helped create.
Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, LGBT, Women's History
Teaching Guides
Lessons from Freedom Summer: Ordinary People Building Extraordinary Movements
Book – Teaching Guide. Edited by Kathy Emery, Linda Reid Gold and Sylvia Braselmann. Foreword by Howard Zinn. 2008. 456 pages.
Readings and lessons on the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project.
The Promise: Brown v. Board of Education, The Civil Rights Movement, and Our Schools
Teaching Guide. Edited by Rethinking Schools. 2004.
Analysis and teaching ideas on school desegregation.
Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching
Teaching Guide. Edited by Deborah Menkart, Alana D. Murray, and Jenice L. View. 2004. 576 pages.
Provides lessons and articles for K-12 educators on how to go beyond a heroes approach to the Civil Rights Movement, with a focus on education, economics, labor, youth, women, and culture.
Articles
The Politics of Children’s Literature: What’s Wrong with the Rosa Parks Myth
Aritcle. By Herbert Kohl. 6 pages.
A critical analysis that challenges the myths in children’s books about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Women's History
Audio
Get It From The Drums: A History of Protest and Protest Songs of the 1960s and 70s
Audio CD and Book. By Wynne Alexander. 2006.
Books: Fiction
Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins
Book – Fiction. By Carole Boston Weatherford. 2007. 32 pages.
Historical fiction in an upper elementary picture book about the Greensboro sit-ins.
Freedom School, Yes!
Book – Fiction. By Amy Littlesugar. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. 2001. 40 pages.
Historical fiction for upper elementary about the 1964 Freedom Schools.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
My Mother the Cheerleader
Book – Fiction. By Robert Sharenow. 2007. 304 pages.
Louise’s mother spends her mornings at the local elementary school with a group of women known as the Cheerleaders, who harass the school’s first black student, six-year-old Ruby Bridges.
One Crazy Summer
Book – Fiction. By Rita Williams-Garcia. 2010. 224 pages.
Chapter book for middle school introduces readers to the Black Panthers in 1960s Oakland.
Remember: The Journey to School Integration
Book – Fiction. By Toni Morrison. 2004. 80 pages. Upper elementary and above.
Fictional story and real photographs tell the story of desegregation.
The Rock and the River
Book – Fiction. By Kekla Magoon. 2010. 304 pages.
Coming-of-age story that shows the close connections between the civil rights and black power movements through an intimate and relatable lens.
Scraps of Time: Abby Takes a Stand, 1960
Book – Fiction. By Patricia McKissack. 2006. 112 pages. For ages 9+.
Historical fiction about the lunch counter sit-ins.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
Sylvia & Aki
Book – Historical fiction. By Winifred Conkling. 2011. 160 pages.
Based on the true story of two girls who meet in 1940s California and a landmark lawsuit on education.
Asian American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Latino, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
A Thousand Never Evers
Book – Fiction. By Shana Burg. 2008. 320 pages.
Set in 1963 Mississippi, this historical fiction introduces middle/high school readers to the life at that time through the experiences of 12-year-old Addie Ann Pickett.
Books: Non-Fiction
500 Años del Pueblo Chicano – 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures
Book – Non-fiction. By Elizabeth Martinez. 1991 (2nd Edition). 238 pages.
Chicano history as told through hundreds of pictures.
500 Years of Chicana Women’s History
Book – Non-fiction. By Elizabeth Martinez. 2007. 320 pages, 899 illustrations.
Stories and photos of Chicana/Mexican-American women in politics, labor, art, health, and more.
Civil Rights Movements, Immigration, Latino, Women's History
The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther
Book – Non-fiction. By Jeffrey Haas. 2009. 424 pages.
The life and murder of Fred Hampton as told by Jeffrey Hass, co-founder of the People’s Law Office and attorney for the plaintiffs in the federal suit Hampton v. Hanrahan.
Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights
At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance — a New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power
Book – Non-fiction. By Danielle L. McGuire. 2010. 352 pages.
History of the violence against African-American women during the 20th century and the role played by Rosa Parks in the organized legal response to that abuse.
Civil Rights Movements, Racism & Racial Identity, Women's History
Bayard Rustin: Behind the Scenes of the Civil Rights Movement
Book – Non-fiction. By James Haskins. 1997. 128 pages.
Biography for middle school readers of Bayard Rustin.
Civil Rights History from the Ground Up: Local Struggles, a National Movement
Book – Non-fiction. Edited by Emilye Crosby. 2011. 486 pages.
A grassroots history of the Civil Rights Movement.
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
Book – Non-fiction. By Phillip Hoose. 133 pages. Ages 10+
The story of Claudette Colvin, a teenager who refused to give up her seat in the year leading up to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Debating the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1968
Book – Non-fiction. By Stephen Lawson and Charles Payne. 2006. 227 pages.
Introduces and examines the complex story of the modern Civil Rights Movement as it should be taught, providing key background information and analysis for teachers.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity
The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle, 1954-1990
Book – Non-fiction. Edited by Clayborne Carson, David J. Garrow, Gerald Gill, Vincent Harding and Darlene Clark Hine. 1991.
Readings to accompany the Eyes on the Prize film.
Freedom Summer
Book – Non-fiction. By Bruce Watson. 2010. 384 pages.
A history of Freedom Summer, the pivotal period of the Civil Rights Movement in 1964 Mississippi.
Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Book – Non-fiction. By Russell Freedman. 2006. 114 pages.
Written for middle school, the story of the bus boycott, in which Rosa Parks played a role but was not the sole hero.
Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories
Book – Non-fiction. By Ellen Levine. 1993. 192 pages.
Thirty African-Americans who were children during the 1950s and 1960s tell their true stories of what it was like for them to fight segregation in the South.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
Freedom’s Teacher: The Life of Septima Clark
Book – Non-fiction. By Katherine Mellen Charron. 2009. 480 pages.
Biography of Septima Clark who played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement through education.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Women's History
Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case
Book – Non-fiction. By Chris Crowe. 128 pages. 2003.
Photos and narrative for high school students.
Hands On the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC
Book – Non-fiction. Edited by Faith S. Holsaert, Martha Prescod Norman Noonan, Judy Richardson, Betty Garman Robinson, Jean Smith Young, and Dorothy M. Zellner. 2010. 632 pages.
An unprecedented women’s history of the Civil Rights Movement, from sit-ins to Black Power.
Hope and History: Why We Must Share the Story of the Movement
Book – Non-fiction. By Vincent Harding. 2010 (2nd Edition). 240 pages.
A call to educators, clergy, and community activists to remember and keep alive the story of the black-led freedom movement.
Howard Zinn on History
Book – Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. Introduction by Staughton Lynd. 2011. 192 pages.
Zinn explores the powerful question, “Have we reached a point in history where we are ready to embrace a new way of living in the world, expanding not our military power, but our humanity?”
Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
Howard Zinn: A Life on the Left
Book – Non-fiction. By Martin Duberman. 2012. 384 pages.
A biography of Howard Zinn.
I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin’s Life in Letters
Book – Non-fiction. Edited by Michael G. Long. By Bayard Rustin. Foreword by Julian Bond. 2012. 276 pages.
The story of the behind-the-scenes strategist, organizer, and advocate of non-violence, Bayard Rustin.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, LGBT, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
I’ve Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle
Book – Non-fiction. By Charles M. Payne. 1995. 506 pages.
The people’s history of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Organizing
The Indispensable Zinn: The Essential Writings of the “People’s Historian”
Book – Non-fiction. Edited by Timothy Patrick McCarthy. 2012. 496 pages.
A concise and accessible volume of the seminal writings of Howard Zinn.
The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World
Book – Non-fiction. By John Carlos and Dave Zirin. Foreword by Cornel West. 2011. 220 pages.
Written for grades 7+, this biography of John Carlos recounts his childhood, his legendary act of courage at the ’68 Olympics, and the backlash.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity, Sports
John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement
Book – Non-fiction. By Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson. Illustrated by Benny Andrews. 2006. 32 pages.
The life of Civil Rights Movement activist and now Congressman, John Lewis.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History
Letters from Mississippi: Reports from Civil Rights Volunteers and Freedom School Poetry of the 1964 Freedom Summer
Book – Non-fiction. Edited by Elizabeth Sutherland Martinez. Introduction by Julian Bond. 2007. 400 pages.
Letters and poetry from Civil Rights Movement volunteers in the summer of 1964.
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
Book – Non-fiction. By James W. Loewen. 2007. 464 pages.
Provides a detailed survey of twelve leading high school history textbooks.
Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, US Foreign Policy
Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi
Book – Non-fiction. By John Dittmer. 1995. 560 pages.
A detailed, grassroots description of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.
Malcolm X Talks to Young People
Book – Non-fiction. By Malcolm X. 2002. 164 pages.
Speeches by Malcolm X, selected for young audiences.
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention
Book – Non-fiction. By Manning Marable. 2011. 608 pages.
A biographical account of Malcolm X.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Racism & Racial Identity
Many Minds, One Heart: SNCC’s Dream for a New America
Book – Non-fiction. By Wesley C. Hogan. 2009. 463 pages.
An innovative study of what the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) accomplished and, more importantly, how it fostered significant social change in such a short time.
Nobody Gonna Turn Me ‘Round: Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement
Book – Non-fiction. By Doreen Rappaport. Illustrated by Shane W. Evans. 2008. 64 pages.
Stories and songs for upper elementary from the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 to 1965.
African American, Art & Music, Civil Rights Movements, Labor, Organizing
Occupied America: A History of Chicanos
Book – Non-fiction. By Rodolfo Acuña. 2010 (7th Edition). 432 pages.
A leading textbook on Chicano history.
On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail
Book – Non-fiction. By Charles E. Cobb, Jr. 2008. 388 pages. High School and Adult.
An educational travel guide to historic sites of the Civil Rights Movement.
A People’s History of the United States: 1492 – Present
Book – Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2005. 702 pages.
Howard Zinn’s groundbreaking work on U.S. history. This book details the lives and facts that are rarely included in textbooks — an indispensable teacher and student resource.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Economics, Education, Immigration, Imperialism, Labor, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, Social Class, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
Book – Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2006. 293 pages.
A collection of essays on American history, class, immigration, justice, and ordinary citizens who have made a difference.
Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project
Book – Nonfiction. By Robert P. Moses and Charles E. Cobb, Jr. 2001. 256 pages.
Algebra Project founder on math literacy and civil rights.
Ready for Revolution: The Life and Struggles of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture)
Book – Non-fiction. By Stokely Carmichael and Ekwueme Michael Thelwell. 2005. 848 pages.
Autobiography of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture).
Refusing Racism: White Allies and the Struggle for Civil Rights
Book – Non-fiction. By Cynthia Stokes Brown. 2002. 192 pages.
Four short biographies of white people who’ve fought against racism in U.S. history.
Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History, Racism & Racial Identity
Right to Ride: Streetcar Boycotts and African American Citizenship in the Era of Plessy v. Ferguson
Book – Non-fiction. By Blair L.M. Kelley. 2010. 280 pages.
Examines acts of protest and resistance to segregated trains and streetcars during the early Jim Crow era.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship
Rosa
Book – Non-fiction. By Nikki Giovanni. 2005. 40 pages.
A beautifully illustrated book for children about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Selma, Lord, Selma: Girlhood Memories of the Civil Rights Days
Book – Non-fiction. By Sheyann Webb and Rachel West Nelson as told to Frank Sikora. 1980. 168 pages.
The moving story of two young girls who were caught up in the 1965 movement in Selma, Alabama.
Silver Rights
Book – Non-fiction. By Constance Curry. Introduction by Marian Wright Edelman. 1996. 288 pages.
The true story of the Carter family’s decision to send their children to an all-white school.
Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for Equality
Book – Non-fiction. By Richard Kluger. 2004. 880 pages.
One of the first texts, now a classic, on Brown v. Board.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity
SNCC: The New Abolitionists
Book – Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2002. 286 pages.
A detailed history of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Students on Strike: Jim Crow, Civil Rights, Brown, and Me
Book – Non-fiction. By John A. Stokes with Lois Wolfe. 2007. 128 pages.
First person description of the student led movement to desegregate schools in Prince Edward County.
There Comes a Time: The Struggle for Civil Rights
Book – Non-fiction. By Milton Meltzer. 2002. 208 pages.
History of the struggle for civil rights throughout U.S. history, for middle school readers.
This Day in Civil Rights History
Book – Non-fiction. By Horace Randall Williams and Ben Beard. 2009. 368 pages.
A full page description of a key event in the history of the Civil Rights Movement for each day of the year.
Through My Eyes
Book – Non-fiction. By Ruby Bridges. 1999. 64 pages.
Biography of Ruby Bridges for middle school.
Civil Rights Movements, Education, Individuals in US History
Undaunted By The Fight: Spelman College And The Civil Rights Movement, 1957-1967
Book – Non-fiction. By Harry G. Lefever. 2005. 304 pages.
The story of Spelman College students and faculty engagement in the Civil Rights Movement from 1957 to 1967.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Women's History
Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America
Book – Non-fiction. By Peniel E. Joseph. 2007. 432 pages.
A narrative history of the Black Power Movement.
Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Senior High
Book – Non-fiction. By Melba Pattillo Beals. 2007. 336 pages.
Story of a teenage girl chosen to integrate Little Rock High School.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Individuals in US History, Organizing
We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin
Book – Non-fiction. By Larry Dane Brimner. 2007. 48 pages.
A sophisticated picture book on a key civil rights leader.
We Shall Overcome: A Song That Changed the World
Book – Non-fiction. By Stuart Stotts. Illustrated by Terrance Cummings. 2010. 64 pages and a CD.
History of the song from the Civil Rights Movement and other struggles, We Shall Overcome.
African American, Art & Music, Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History, Organizing
We Took the Streets: Fighting for Latino Rights with the Young Lords
Book – Non-fiction. By Miguel Melendez. 2003. 260 pages.
Legacy of the Young Lords in the Puerto Rican struggle for equality and independence.
Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History, Latino, Organizing
The Wrong Side of Murder Creek: A White Southerner in the Freedom Movement
Book – Non-fiction. By Bob Zellner with Constance Curry. Foreword by Julian Bond. 2008. 351 pages.
Zellner tells how one white Alabamian joined ranks with the black students who were sitting-in, marching, fighting, and sometimes dying to challenge the southern “way of life.”
Films
Anne Braden: Southern Patriot (1924-2006)
Film. Produced by Anne Lewis. 2012.
Documentary about activist Anne Braden.
At the River I Stand
Film. Directed by David Appleby, Allison Graham and Steven Ross. 1993. 58 min.
Documentary on the African American sanitation workers’ 1968 fight for human dignity and a living wage in Memphis.
Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
DVD. Produced by Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer. 2002. 83 minutes.
Documentary about the life of peace, labor, and civil rights activist Bayard Rustin.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Labor, LGBT, Organizing
Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock
Film. Directed by Sharon LaCruise. 2011.
Documentary on the life of Daisy Bates, best know for her role with the Little Rock Nine.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Women's History
Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1985
Film. Produced by Henry Hampton. Blackside. 1987.
Comprehensive documentary history of the Civil Rights Movement.
February One
Film. Produced by Dr. Steven Channing. 2004. 61 min.
February One tells the story surrounding the 1960 Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins.
Freedom Riders
Film. Written, produced, and directed by Stanley Nelson. 2011. 120 minutes.
A first hand look at the 1961 rides from the Freedom Riders themselves and others who were there.
Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
Freedom Song
Film. By Phil Alden Robinson. 2006. 117 min.
Based on the actual history of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), student activism, and voter registration in McComb, Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement.
John Lewis: “Original Text to be Delivered at the Lincoln Memorial”
John Lewis’ “Original Text of Speech to be Delivered at the Lincoln Memorial” (1963) read by Brian Jones. From Voices of People’s History of the United States.
The Lemon Grove Incident
Film. By Paul Espinosa. 1986.
An early story of desegregation in a 1931 school that barred Mexican-Americans.
Malcolm X: “Message to the Grass Roots”
Film clip.
Malcolm X, “Message to the Grass Roots” (1963), read by Mos Def. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship
Mighty Times: The Children’s March
Film. By Hudson and Houston. 2005. 40 minutes.
This Academy Award-winning documentary film tells the heroic story of the young people in Birmingham, Alabama, who brought segregation to its knees.
The Murder of Emmett Till
Film. 60 minutes. Produced and directed by Stanley Nelson. 2003.
Documentary on the murder of teenager Emmett Till and the actions of Mamie Till Bradley which helped launch the modern Civil Rights Movement.
Ruby Bridges
Film. Directed by Euzhan Palcy. 1998. 96 minutes.
The true story of Ruby Bridges, the six year old girl who helped to integrate the all-white schools in New Orleans.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity
Scarred Justice: The Orangeburg Massacre 1968
DVD. Produced by Judy Richardson and Bestor Cram. 2009. 57 minutes.
A documentary film that brings to light the story of the attack by state police on a demonstration in Orangeburg, South Carolina — leaving three students killed and 28 injured.
Sing Your Song: What good is a conscience if it is not awakened
Film. Directed by Susanne Rostock. 2011.104 minutes.
A biographical documentary that surveys the life and times of performer/activist Harry Belafonte.
African American, Art & Music, Civil Rights Movements, Racism & Racial Identity
Standing on My Sisters’ Shoulders
Film. By Joan Sadoff, Robert Sadoff, and Laura Lipson. 2002. 60 minutes.
Documentary film on women in the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.
Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History, Organizing, Women's History
Teaching About the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Film. By Teaching for Change. 2006. 15 min.
First grade teacher Maggie Donovan (SNCC veteran) introduces her students to the fight to desegregate the buses, placing Rosa Parks in the context of the larger community efforts.
The Times of Harvey Milk
Film. Directed by Rob Epstein. 1984. 90 minutes.
Documentary on the political career and assassination of Harvey Milk, San Francisco’s first openly gay supervisor.
Viola Liuzzo
Profile.
Civil Rights Activist. Murdered in 1965 by the KKK after the Selma to Montgomery march.
Viva La Causa
Film. Bill Brummel Productions. 2008. 39 minutes.
A documentary film and teaching guide on the grape strike and boycott led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in the 1960s.
Walkout
Film. Produced by Moctesuma Esparza. 2006. 111 minutes.
Walkout tells the true story of the Chicano students of East L.A., who in 1968 staged several dramatic walkouts in their high schools to protest academic prejudice and dire school conditions.
Civil Rights Movements, Education, Latino, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
We Shall Remain
Film and website. 2009. 450 minutes.
Three hundred years of Native American history.
Civil Rights Movements, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Racism & Racial Identity
Picture Books
Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins
Book – Fiction. By Carole Boston Weatherford. 2007. 32 pages.
Historical fiction in an upper elementary picture book about the Greensboro sit-ins.
Freedom School, Yes!
Book – Fiction. By Amy Littlesugar. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. 2001. 40 pages.
Historical fiction for upper elementary about the 1964 Freedom Schools.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement
Book – Non-fiction. By Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson. Illustrated by Benny Andrews. 2006. 32 pages.
The life of Civil Rights Movement activist and now Congressman, John Lewis.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History
Nobody Gonna Turn Me ‘Round: Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement
Book – Non-fiction. By Doreen Rappaport. Illustrated by Shane W. Evans. 2008. 64 pages.
Stories and songs for upper elementary from the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 to 1965.
African American, Art & Music, Civil Rights Movements, Labor, Organizing
Rosa
Book – Non-fiction. By Nikki Giovanni. 2005. 40 pages.
A beautifully illustrated book for children about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down
Book – Non-fiction. By Andrea Davis Pinkney. Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. 2010. 40 pages.
A picture book about the 1960 Woolworth sit-ins.
We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin
Book – Non-fiction. By Larry Dane Brimner. 2007. 48 pages.
A sophisticated picture book on a key civil rights leader.
Posters
1961 Freedom Riders
Poster. Created by Joseph Portiglione and Eric Etheridge.
Mississippi mugshots of the 328 courageous Freedom Riders of 1961.
Civil Rights Movements, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity
Profiles
Moore, Harry T. and Harriette Moore
Profiles. Harry T. and Harriette Moore.
The Moores, teachers and civil rights activists in Florida, were murdered when their home was bombed on Dec. 25, 1951.
Murray, Pauli: Fighting Jane Crow
Article. By Paula Giddings, The Nation, May 23, 1987.
Review of Pauli Murray’s autobiography, Song in a Weary Throat: An American Pilgrimage (Harper & Row).
Spanish/Bilingual
500 Años del Pueblo Chicano – 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures
Book – Non-fiction. By Elizabeth Martinez. 1991 (2nd Edition). 238 pages.
Chicano history as told through hundreds of pictures.
Websites
Civil Rights Movement Veterans Website
Website.
Resources on the Southern Freedom Movement compiled by those who lived it. Includes a bibliography, timelines, photos, primary source documents, and lists of speakers.
The Collection: Oral Histories/Archives from The Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement
Website.
More than 100 oral histories with leaders and shapers of the disability rights and independent living movement.
Disability Rights Movement
Website.
Descriptions and images of eras and movements within the U.S. Disability Rights Movement.
Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Movement 1954-1985
Website.
Comprehensive companion website to PBS documentary series.
Pacific Northwest Labor and Civil Rights Projects
Website.
Oral histories, primary documents, and more on labor and civil rights movements in the Pacific Northwest.
Remembering 1882: Fighting for Civil Rights in the Shadow of the Chinese Exclusion Act
Website.
Primary documents, historical background, and more on the Chinese Exclusion Act and the history of Chinese American struggles for civil rights.
Asian American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Immigration, Racism & Racial Identity
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
Website. A companion to the PBS films series of the same title.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity
The Veterans of Hope Project
Website.
A multifaceted educational initiative that focuses on community building, non-violence and justice.
Voices of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Website.
Video interviews & articles telling the first hand stories of 27 individuals who participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Civil Rights Movement.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights
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