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Posted by: Stephen Wesson
In the small town of Selma, Alabama, in the early weeks of March 1965, a series of marches took place that brought the nation's civil rights struggle to a point of crisis, and that captured the attention of the world.
Posted in: African American History, Contemporary United States (1945-present)
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the conditions that led to it and its legacy are the subjects of a four-part webinar series. Co-facilitated by education experts from Teaching Tolerance and the Library of Congress, the series will invite participants to examine unique primary sources from the Library's collections that illuminate the laws and practices that preceded the act as well as discuss teaching strategies to use in the classroom.
Posted in: Contemporary United States (1945-present), News and Events
Posted by: Anne Savage
On Thursday, January 22 at 4 PM ET, Teaching Tolerance and the Library of Congress will co-facilitate the first of a series of monthly webinars on teaching and learning about the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Posted in: African American History, Contemporary United States (1945-present), News and Events
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
Last November, we published a post addressing the controversies associated with Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. A recent comment pointed out that Huck's views on slavery are those of the dominant society of the time. Because the post featured a letter from Frederick Douglass as a supplement to the novel, the commenter wondered "why not present the experiences and views of the oppressed rather than the oppressor?" That struck me as an intriguing question, so here are a few places to start exploring those views and experiences with your students.
Posted in: African American History, Poetry and Literature
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
History is most fascinating when we feel connected to the people who lived in the past. One way to pique student interest is by using primary sources from the Library of Congress -- letters, photographs, and oral histories -- that document real people's lives. The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress recently launched the Civil Rights History Project, a digitized collection of interviews with active participants in the Civil Rights movement and essays about the movement.
Posted in: African American History, Contemporary United States (1945-present), Teaching Tools
Posted by: Danna Bell
The Library of Congress is now accepting applications for all of its summer programs, including a week-long session for K-12 educators on science and one on civil rights. Held at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, these professional development programs provide educators with tools and resources to effectively integrate primary sources into K-12 classroom teaching, emphasizing student engagement, critical thinking, and construction of knowledge.
Posted in: News and Events
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
Use images from the Library of Congress to pique students’ interest and to inspire research questions about the American Civil Rights movement and the many people who worked for equal rights.
Posted in: African American History, Contemporary United States (1945-present), Teaching Tools
Posted by: Danna Bell
Would your students be willing to march for something they believed in? On August 28, 1963 more than 250,000 people came to the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Posted in: African American History, Contemporary United States (1945-present)
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
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.”
Posted in: African American History, Constitution, Government and Law