The Great Migration in Library of Congress Primary Sources
Primary sources can provide a window into the Great Migration, the largest internal migration in the history of the United States.
Archive for the African American History Category (99 posts)
Frederick Douglass on Abraham Lincoln: The Writer and Abolitionist Remembers the President in Library of Congress Primary Sources
African American History Month is a perfect time to celebrate the abolitionist efforts of white and black Americans alike, and to examine the relationship between the Emancipation Proclamation’s author and one of the greatest American abolitionists.
Honoring Our History through Artwork: Martin Luther King, Jr. in Library of Congress Primary Sources
Are there statues in your community created to honor those who have made a difference? Have buildings in your town been named or renamed for important people in history? Martin Luther King, Jr. is one such person. Ask your students to analyze a mural documenting the life of Dr. King, as seen in a photograph from the Carol M. Highsmith Archive at the Library of Congress.
Voting Rights – The Full Enfranchisement of African Americans
The original Constitution of the United States was nearly mute on voting rights, ceding them to the states to determine. The 15th Amendment to the Constitution confers voting rights on African Americans, declaring that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
An Olympian Effort: The Story of Jesse Owens in Library of Congress Primary Sources
The opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics is just around the corner. How will you include information about the Olympics in your classroom?
One way is to highlight a historic Olympian in lessons.
Preparing for African American History Month: Ways of Honoring Heroes
One way to introduce African American History Month is by facilitating a discussion about the ways in which African American achievement has been recognized in the nation’s past.
Langston Hughes’ Drafts of “Ballad of Booker T.”: Exploring the Creative Process
How can five typewritten pieces of paper provide a glimpse into the mind of a great writer?
Booker T. Washington and the Atlanta Compromise
Many contributed to the debates on how best to secure and advance the rights of African Americans, but one of the major contributors was the educator Booker T. Washington. Washington, the leader of Tuskegee Institute, stated his views in a speech at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, in September 1895.
Interview with Fountain Hughes: A Primary Source Starter
At the end of the Civil War, over four million enslaved Americans gained their freedom. Today, we can still hear 26 of them speak to us in their own words, with their own voices.