Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Discusses the famous Supreme Court decision that ended school segregation, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954).
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
Truman Library: Desegregation of the Armed Forces
While this is a chronology of events from 1945 to 1953 on this issue, the events of 1947-48 show that the Truman administration saw the desegregation of the armed forces as something that would help them with the African American vote.
Read Works
Read Works: School Colors
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about desegregation and the experiences of the Little Rock Nine. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: Walking Tall
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about Ruby Bridges and her experience as the first African American to attend an all-white elementary school. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading...
Read Works
Read Works: Walking Tall
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage shares the story of Ruby Bridges' rol. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for vocabulary acquisition are also included. Questions and a...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Seeing Integration From Different Viewpoints
What does the world look like through someone else's eyes? Guide middle schoolers in using colorful paper glasses to examine a story of school desegregation from multiple perspectives.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: Barbara Johns
The amazing story of Barbara Johns, the 16-year-old who called a strike and walk out to protest the overcrowding of Robert Russa Moton High School.
Other
Supreme Court: Brown v. Board of Education, 347 u.s. 483
Contains the text to the appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: "Massive Resistance" and the Little Rock Nine
Read about the famous civil rights protest in Little Rock, Kansas in 1957 when nine African American students attempted to enter Central High School on the first day of school. Despite the presence of federal troops at the school for the...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Jackie Robinson: Desegregation Begins With a Baseball
Article presenting the story of Jackie Robinson and how he challenged segregation through American baseball.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Read about the action of Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, triggering a massive bus boycott led by Martin Luther King, Jr. The boycott became the impetus for a Supreme Court ruling that...
Other
Civil Rights Teaching
Online companion to the book "Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching", but many useful resources for any classroom.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1945 1980: Massive Resistance and the Little Rock Nine
Read about resistance to desegregation and the nine African American students who dared to integrate Little Rock's Central High School.
University of Missouri
Famous Trials: Brown v Topeka Board of Ed. (1951)
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka is widely known as the Supreme Court decision that declared segregated schools to be "inherently unequal." The story behind the case, including that of the 1951 trial in a Kansas courtroom, is much...
National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: The Sit in Movement
Being served at a lunch counter was normal for whites, but African Americans were not allowed to sit at lunch counters throughout the South. Learn details of the Greensboro Sit-In.
National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: Montgomery Bus Boycott
Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks along with other early protestors sparked a yearlong boycott of the Montgomery bus system that culminated in the desegregation of public transportation in Alabama and throughout the country.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Fighting Racism: Civil Rights in the Progressive Era
In this interactive lesson, students take a closer look at some of the women who risked their lives to fight against systemic racism in the United States during the Progressive Era.
Digital History
Digital History: To the Heart of Dixie
In the early 1960s civil rights activists put the ban on segregation to the test. In 1961, "Freedom riders," boarded buses headed south to test the federal ban on segregated travel. And in 1962, the University of Mississippi was ordered...
University of Houston
University of Houston: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference
This comprehensive essay describing the history and effect of the SCLC is written by Cynthia P. Lewis of the King Center.
PBS
This Far by Faith: Civil Rights to Black Power: A Faith Forged in Albany
This segment from This Far by Faith, a documentary film about spiritual journeys of African Americans, explores civil rights and the Albany Movement.
Other
Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka: Background
Provides a background summary for the Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka case.
PBS
Pbs Online News Hour: American Revolutionary?
An interview of Thurgood Marshall's biographer, Juan Williams, from the PBS Newshour. Provides insight into the character, background, and motivation of Thurgood Marshall.
Cornell University
Cornell University: Law School: Civil Rights and Discrimination
This site from the Cornell University School of Law provides an overview of civil rights legislation, including an explanation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. There are links to other sites on the subject of civil rights in general.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Martin Luther King Jr.
This resource provides information about Martin Luther King Jr.