Other
Fair Vote: X's and O's: A History of the Voting Rights Act and African Americans
Documented essay on the history of black suffrage in American and the significance of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Dirksen Congressional Center
Congress Link: Voting Rights Act of 1965
Explores the Voting Rights Act of 1965 from the perspective of a Congressional leader. Presents an abundant amount of historical information about the origins of the Act as well as the steps needed to get it passed.
Other
The Center for Voting & Democracy: The Voting Rights Act
The Center for Voting and Democracy offers a general overview of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Content focuses on Section 2 and Section 5 of the Act, exploring their importance.
NBC
Nbc Learn: Finishing the Dream: 1965: We Shall Overcome
A collection of archival video clips highlighting a peaceful protest in Alabama in 1965 that ended in a confrontation with state troopers known as "Bloody Sunday." This was followed by a four-day march with Martin Luther King, Jr., and a...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1945 1980:civil Rights Act 1964/voting Rights Act 1965
Learn about the civil rights legislation that outlawed discrimination in jobs, education, housing, public accommodations, and voting.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Read about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which sought to make discrimination illegal, and the resistance they faced from the public and government officials. As time passed, African Americans began to...
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Voting Rights Act of 1965
This collection uses primary sources to explore the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Set includes an overview, primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide.
CommonLit
Common Lit: The Voting Rights Act of 1965
A learning module that begins with the "The Voting Rights Act of 1965" by Jessica McBirney, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted to prevent discrimination and protect voting rights. It was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965, to safeguard the right to vote of Black Americans and ban the use of...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: The Civil Rights Movement and Voting Rights
Given the voting rights amendments, students will create an annotated time line that illustrates how voting rights have been extended to various groups of people throughout the history of the United States.
Library of Congress
Loc: congress.gov: Voting Rights Clarification Act of 2000
Copy of the Voting Rights Clarification Act, introduced in 2000 to amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Curated OER
History Matters: "And We Shall Overcome": Johnson's Special Message to Congress
Read President Lyndon B. Johnson's speech before the the Congress in support of the Voting Rights Act. Feel the passion in his address and his desire to further racial equality.
US Government Publishing Office
Ben's Guide to u.s. Government: Learning Adventures: The History and Process of Voting
Learning adventures teaches students of all ages about the voting process and the history of voting, citing the 15th and 19th Amendments, Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 26th Amendment. Links to the National Archives and voter...
US National Archives
National Archives: Congress Protects the Right to Vote
Students will draw conclusions regarding actions taken by Congress when passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. They will weigh the balance of power between the federal and state governments when protecting the right to vote. Materials...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Classroom: Women's Rights
Extensive information for high-school classes examining the history of women's suffrage and the struggle for equal rights as well as related issues that address such questions as: Are laws protecting women's rights still needed?...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: Voting Then, Voting Now
This site explores the voting experiences for African Americans beginning in the Jim Crow era. It shares literacy tests African Americans had to take and other challenges they were given for the right to vote. This denial of the right to...
Alabama Humanities Foundation
Encyclopedia of Alabama: Selma to Montgomery March
One of the most famous events in Civil Rights history, this report covers the Selma to Montgomery March for voting rights.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: A National Struggle: Congress
This two-page segment of a larger PBS site about Jim Crow discusses the role of Congress over close to 100 years in first entrenching Jim Crow laws in the law of the land, and eventually, through the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and the...
OpenStax
Open Stax: Contesting Futures: America in 1960s: Lyndon Johnson and Great Society
Read about the reforms and legislation undertaken through Lyndon B. Johnson's concept of the Great Society. These included economic and educational reforms, consumer protection, changes to immigration laws, and the Voting Rights Act of...
US National Archives
National Archives: To What Extent Was Reconstruction a Revolution? (Part 2)
This is a continuation of part 1 of the lesson plan "To What Extent was Reconstruction a Revolution?". Students will study the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to see if their opinion changes from the previous lesson plan. Included are whole...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Race and Voting in the Segregated South
Article and activity in which students read and analyze the historic challenges faced by African Americans as they sought to gain an unimpeded right to vote in the segregated South followed by activity asking students to evaluate current...
Other
Center for Voting and Democracy Glossary
Brief and informative description of the Voting Act of 1965, as well as other definitions related to equal opportunity in voting.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Aftermath: African American Women and the Vote
Though the suffrage movement failed to exclude African-American women, and many obstacles came in the way of their voting (e.g., poll taxes, literacy tests, etc.), "African-American women were not strangers to community activism." Learn...
US National Archives
Docsteach: To What Extent Was Reconstruction a Revolution? (Part 2)
This activity is a continuation of the lesson for Part 1. In it, young scholars will examine the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and determine whether their analysis of this document changes their responses to the guiding question in Part 1...