US National Archives
Nara: Charters of Freedom: The Constitution: Amendments 11 27
Check here to read the three amendments passed during the Progressive Era, the 16th, 17th, & 18th amendments. From the National Archives and Records Administration.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Bayard Rustin: A Freedom Budget, Part 2
This audio excerpt from Bayard Rustin's 1967 "Freedom Budget" speech outlines a nine-year plan to end poverty in America.
The Newberry Library
Newberry Library: Chicago Workers During the Long Gilded Age
Learning module in which students use primary source material to examine the plight of workers in Chicago during the 19th and 20th Centuries, their efforts to make changes to working conditions and public response to those efforts.
US National Archives
Docsteach: Birth of the Environmental Protection Agency (Epa)
By the late 1960s, issues of unchecked land development, urban decay, and air, noise, and water pollution came to Americans' attention. In November 1971, the newly created Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a large-scale...
A&E Television
History.com: How Interstate Highways Gutted Communities and Reinforced Segregation
America's interstate highway system cut through the heart of dozens of urban neighborhoods. Congress approved the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, authorizing what was then the largest public works program in U.S. history. It promised to...
Black Past
Black Past: Jordan Hatcher Case (1852)
Learn about the slave Jordan Hatcher who was charged with killing and assaulting a white man and how his trail affected others.
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: Art Access: Nighthawks
View Hopper's famous "Nighthawks," along with contextual details and analysis.
Library of Economics and Liberty
The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics: Henry George
A good discussion of the economic theories of Henry George. He had definite ideas of how to tax property, and the value of free trade.
University of California
The Bancroft Library: San Francisco Chinatown
Website explores the uniqueness of the oldest and largest urban Chinese American enclave, San Francisco's Chinatown.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: The Pointer Sisters
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features the Pointer Sisters, an American vocal group that scored a string of pop, dance, and urban contemporary hits in the 1970s and '80s.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Howlin' Wolf
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Howlin' Wolf, an American blues singer and composer who was one of the principal exponents of the urban blues style of Chicago.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: M. Carl Holman
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features M. Carl Holman, an American civil rights leader, president of the National Urban Coalition (1971-88), who promoted the need for a mutual partnership between industry and government to...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: John Singleton
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features John Singleton, an American film director and screenwriter whose films often examine urban and racial tensions. He is best known for his directorial debut, Boyz n the Hood.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Richard Pryor
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Richard Pryor, an American comedian and actor, who was one of the leading comics of the 1970s and '80s. His comedy routines drew on a variety of downtrodden urban characters, rendered with...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Rosa Guy
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Rosa Guy, an American writer who drew on her own experiences to create fiction for young adults that usually concerned individual choice, family conflicts, poverty, and the realities of...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Rudolph Fisher
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Rudolph Fisher, an American short-story writer and novelist associated with the Harlem Renaissance whose fiction realistically depicted black urban life in the North, primarily Harlem.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: John Edgar Wideman
Biographical sketch of John Edgar Wideman, American writer regarded for his intricate literary style in novels about the experiences of black men in contemporary urban America.
My Hero Project
My Hero: Arthur Ashe
Use this resource to learn about Arthur Ashe, the tennis star who urged that health education be available to all.
Curated OER
State Street, Chicago, 1905
Fifteen primary sources-historical documents, literary texts, and visual images-that explore the lives of and the challenges faced by a variety of Americans. They include documents about Native Americans and immigrants, and focus on both...