Black History Month

Although I believe that African-American history should be taught part and parcel with American history, February is Black History Month and today is Martin Luther King Day. In honor of the men and women who have contributed so much to our country, and who deserve to be included in our national consciousness of who we are--not relegated to one particular day or several weeks--I am sharing a number of wonderful resources well-worth exploring. Please note that my list is not exhaustive, nor does it provide a complete history, but it is certainly a good place to start.

Please see my wiki whitneyswikiways for a list of picture books, chapter books, poetry, videos and websites.

Below are a number of excellent web sites.

Civil Rights Legislation

Civil Rights Center
FindLaw for the Public

A collection of articles and resources on the topic of Civil Rights. Links lead to legal definitions, specific types of discrimination, and a timeline of significant events. Information is provided from a legal perspective, and links to relevant Constitutional Amendments, federal and state law, and litigation are included. The site is very easy to use and written for the lay person, providing both depth and breadth of information. For those wanting detailed information about a specific subchapter or section of a law, links are provided to FindLaw for Legal Professionals.

Primary Documents/Curricula

Teaching Documents/Lesson Plans
The National Archives

This website, part of the National Archives Education service, provides detailed lesson plans that are correlated to National History Standards and National Standards for Civics and Government. All lesson plans are based on primary documents and can be accessed by clicking on “Lessons by Era 1945 to 1970s” or one of the bulleted topics (“Civil War and Reconstruction” or “Postwar United States”). Lesson plans are available for specific topics, such as the arrest records of Rosa Parks or letters and telegrams to the President from Jackie Robinson. Background information and pictures of relevant documents are provided along with creative, thought provoking teaching activities and suggestions for using the documents. All necessary worksheets are provided as PDFs.

The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail Resources for Teachers
The National Archives

Part of the Never Lose Sight of Freedom project, this website provides detailed lesson plans along with teaching materials, historical documents and photographs, transcripts of speeches and personal histories, and the text of associated laws and court decisions. An online video of the March is also available. Links to other websites, including the Spider Martin Photo Gallery of the 1965 Montgomery Voting Rights March and the National Voting Right Museum are provided. All lesson plans include all necessary materials in html and PDF versions, and were written by Alabama teachers whose qualifications are provided following each lesson.

The King Papers Project
The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University

Since 1985, the King Papers Project has been editing and publishing the works of Dr. King. The site includes transcripts and some audio of Dr. King’s sermons and speeches, excerpts from his autobiography, and numerous scholarly articles about Dr. King. A comprehensive encyclopedia of the Civil Rights Movement and an inventory of Dr. King’s sermons, speeches, letters, publications, notes and outlines are also provided. The website provides the Liberation Curriculum, an educational resource for high school teachers which includes lesson plans and classroom resources.

Virtual Tours

We Shall Overcome: Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement--A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary
U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, U.S. Department of Transportation, The Federal Highway Administration, and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers.

In addition to a brief history of the Civil Rights Movement, this site provides a map and a list of places associated with the movement. Links lead to a page for each place on the map or list. Each page includes pictures of the place and people associated with events at that location, and an explanation of the location’s significance in the Civil Rights Movement. Internal links lead to biographies, explanations of events, and other historic places. Links to the National Park Service and the National Register of Historic Places are also included. A bibliography of histories, biographies, autobiographies, reference sources and other web resources is provided.

Voices of the Civil Rights
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Library of Congress

This site chronicles the Voices of Civil Rights Bus Tour which retraced the route of the 1961 Freedom Riders, and includes videos from stops and events along the route. Voices of the Civil Rights collected thousands of personal stories and oral histories of individuals involved in the Civil Rights Movement. These stories will be housed at the Library of Congress, but are available from archives in the website. A timeline of events, music, video, introduction to new activists, and evaluations of the civil rights movement in the present and future are included. Links are provided for other oral history projects, websites and other online resources, and books.

Online Exhibits/Museums

National Civil Rights Museum
National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, TN

In addition to providing information about the museum (hours, location, etc.), this website has an online exhibition which includes pictures and written material about major events and brief biographies about people in the movement. The museum’s annual Freedom Awards, honoring people who have made significant contributions to the advancement of civil rights nationally and internationally, are archived and include brief biographies of the recipients.

African-American Oddyssey
The Library of Congress

This website is an online exhibit based on a 1998 exhibition at the Library of Congress which showcased the Library’s African American Collection in all three of the Library’s buildings. The exhibit divides the history of African Americans into nine sections which include Slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction and the Depression. The ninth section focuses on the Civil Rights Movement which presents documents, artwork, and photographs of people and events along with descriptive narrative. The site includes a complete list of objects included in the exhibition with links to items found in the online exhibit and to the LC division where the item is housed.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Seattle Times

In addition to providing links to articles and commentary about Martin Luther King, Jr., published in the Seattle Times, this website includes a photo gallery and biography of the Civil Rights leader. A timeline details significant events in Dr. King’s life, as well as in the Civil Rights movement. Links are provided to audio and transcripts of Dr. King’s speeches and written work, including “I Have a Dream” and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. A study guide, quiz, and list of resources are also included.

If you have gotten all the way through this list, don't forget to look at my wiki where you'll find all kinds of picture books appropriate for all ages (nobody is ever too old for a read aloud).