Curated OER
History Matters: Separate but Equal: The Plessy v. Ferguson Case
Read the judgment of Supreme Court justice, Henry Billings Brown, who wrote for the majority in the Plessy v Ferguson decision that codified the idea of "separate but equal" in the American justice system until it was overturned by Brown...
Other
Ahc: Civil Rights Movement: The Surge Forward: 1954 1960
Detailed discussion of the civil rights movement between 1954-1960 including summaries of events such as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Rosa Parks & the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955-1956, school desegregation, Sarah Keys v....
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Separate No Longer?
An explantion of how the Supreme Court decision in Brown v Board of Education of Topeka turned the concept of separate but equal on its head. See how they determined that the 14th Amendment was being violated when schools did not fund...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Brown Reactions: Black Educators
This 1954 statement, issued by a group of black educators, strongly endorses the Supreme Court's Brown ruling.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Brown Reactions: Judge Brady
This 1954 statement from Tom Brady, a founder of the White Citizens' Council movement, expresses opposition to the Brown decision.
This Nation
This nation.com: Brown v. Board of Education 2 (1955)
This site from ThisNation.com provides Chief Justice Earl Warren's full text of the Supreme Court's decision in this landmark case.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Brown Reactions: Editorials
This sampling of newspaper editorials from the mid-1950s reflects the range of public opinion and responses to the Brown decision.
Library of Congress
Loc: Teachers: Segregation: From Jim Crow to Linda Brown
Lesson from the Library of Congress on "the era of legal segregation in America, from Plessy v. Ferguson (1897) to Brown v. The Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas (1954)."
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Documenting Brown: Collected Excerpts
This collection of excerpts from legislation and court decisions documents key phases of the legal struggle to gain and implement equal education.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Documenting Brown: Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 helped enforce the Brown ruling, a decade later.
Library of Congress
Loc: Today in History: October 2: Thurgood Marshall
Site about the noted career of Thurgood Marshall, leading civil rights advocate and first African-American to sit on the Supreme Court. This article has information on his education, his work with the NAACP, his involvement in Brown v....
iCivics
I Civics: Lau v. Nichols (1974)
This mini-lesson covers the basics of the Supreme Court's decision that required public schools to provide language supports to English and multilingual learners. Learners learn how Lau's arguments relate to the landmark case, Brown v....
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.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Beyond Brown: Recognize & Combat Segregation in u.s. Schools
A lesson plan on the continuing problem of school segregation that asks young scholars to identify instances of school segregation today, to determine the reasons behind it, and to develop a plan for combating segregation in today's...
Digital History
Digital History: Plessy v. Ferguson
A very thorough explanation of the famous Supreme Court decision about Plessy v. Ferguson. It upheld the idea of "separate but equal," which was in effect until Brown v Board of Education in 1954. See who opposed the decision, and read...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Plessy v. Ferguson
The decision of the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson kept black and white people separate in all public areas for many years. To find out what that meant, and to see some actual photographs, visit this page.
Virginia Historical Society
Virginia Historical Society: Massive Resistance
A chilling account of the ways Virginia lawmakers attempted to subvert the Supreme Court decision in Brown v Board of Education in 1958. Read about the Southern Manifesto, and the group of laws known as Massive Resistance.
US National Archives
Our Documents: A National Initiative on American History, Civics, and Service
Our Documents is home to one hundred milestone documents that influenced that course of American history and American democracy. Includes full-page scans of each document, transcriptions, background information on their significance, and...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Separate Is Not Equal: White Only
This section from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History's exhibition Separate Is Not Equal: Brown v. Board of Education gives the history of Jim Crow laws and how they affected not only the voting rights of...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: The South After the Civil War: Jim Crow
Explains how Jim Crow laws came to be created in the South and what it meant for African Americans. Discusses the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case, how its decision was eventually overturned, and the events that brought an end to...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Briggs v. Elliott, Harry and Eliza Briggs
In this transcript of an interview for Eyes on the Prize, Harry and Eliza Briggs describe their experience in the first school desegregation case, Briggs v. Elliott.
Curated OER
National Park Service: The Struggle for Education Equality for African American
"Canterbury, Connecticut, and Little Rock, Arkansas, are links in a chain of events representing the long struggle for equal educational opportunities for African Americans. This lesson plan highlights two important historic places and...
NBC
Nbc Learn: Finishing the Dream
A collection of over one hundred archival video clips highlighting significant events in the history of the Civil Rights Movement since the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954. There are ten collections covering...
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: Lampooning Injustice: Paul Conrad and Civil Rights
For this lesson, 11th graders look at the work of Paul Conrad, a political cartoonist, who often explored issues around civil rights, including Brown v. Board of Education and school desegregation. Includes background information for the...