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...
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: Swann v. Board of Education (1971)
The decision for Swann vs. Board of Education of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, concerning the integration and desegration of public schools.
Thurgood Marshall Website
Thurgood Marshall: The Bicentennial Speech: Remarks of Thurgood Marshall
Text of Thurgood Marshall's Bicentennial Speech given in 1987, in which Marshall pointed out the inadequacies of the U.S. Constitution in addressing civil rights and liberties.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Civil Rights Special Collection
Multimedia collection of video, primary text documents and audio on Civil Rights, especially Brown vs. Board of Education.
Other
Sweatt v. Painter Archive
This site has just about everything one might want to know in an investigation of the important Supreme Court decision in Sweatt vs. Painter.
Other
New York Public Library: Africana Age: The Civil Rights Movement
This is an extensive review of the Civil Rights movement from the 1940s to the 1960s. Read about the ways African Americans protested discrimination in employment and education over several years. Be sure to click on the images to find...
Other
Howard University: Brown v Board of Education at 50: Fulfilling the Promise
Howard University had a direct role in the Brown v Board of Education and has continued its research in the 50 years since working to continue and improve the rulings of the case. This is a free resource providing a collection of court...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Supreme Court: Expanding Civil Rights: Brown v. Board of Education
This is a detailed overview of the landmark Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education which held that the racial segregation of children in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1865 1898: Jim Crow
After Reconstruction, states in the South passed laws that barred African Americans from voting and segregated schools, restaurants, and public accommodations.
White Pine Pictures
White Pine Pictures: Breaking the Ice: The Mary Ann Shadd Story
Mary Ann Shadd was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1823. She emigrated to Windsor, Upper Canada and was a leader in advocating for integrated schools at a time when most Canadians believed segregated schools should predominate. This web...
Read Works
Read Works: Boys Only Girls Only!
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text debating single-sex schools. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
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...
Digital History
Digital History: Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was one of the most important figures in the civil rights movement. In this biographical account, follow the steps of Marshall from his days as a law student at Howard Law School, to his victories as chief counsel for...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Thurgood Marshall
A description of the inspiring life of the first black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall. Learn why he is remembered as a self-less hardworking advocate for the less fortunate. (In Spanish)
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Re Examining Brown
A teacher lesson that explores the struggles to end segregation in schools. Students will research and use role-playing to understand some of the people and issues that sparked the BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION case in 1954 and how that...
iCivics
I Civics: Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
This mini-instructional activity covers the basics of the Supreme Court's decision that overturned "separate but equal" in public schools. Students learn about segregation and "equality under the law," and they use what they learned to...
Other
Black Parents Appeal Attack on Desegregation
Historical look at the battle for desegrated schools in North Carolina.
Read Works
Read Works: Smile!
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about Ruby Bridges, the first African American to attend a Southern, all-white elementary school. 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...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Themes: Education & Knowledge: What Is the Goal of Education?
This is a collection of Grade-Leveled texts (3-12) to address the question, "What is the goal of education?" Select a grade level and a collection of on grade-level reading passages on the topic comes up. [Free account registration...
PBS
Enlightenment: Brown v. Board of Education
Site offers background, further study links, the issue before the court, the ruling and results, and discussion ideas for the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
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...
Other
Atlanta in the Civil Rights Movement
An online look at the role Atlanta played in all parts of the Civil Rights Movement.
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Showdown in Little Rock" by Us history.org
A learning module that begins with "Showdown in Little Rock," accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and student...