High School Archives

Plotting Inequalities, Building Resistance: High School Students Use Math to Reflect on Social Inequality

Teaching Activity. By Adam Renner, Bridget Brew, and Crystal Proctor. Rethinking Schools. 5 pages.
An article describing how math teachers in a San Francisco high school shed light on the ways economics and racism affect education, housing, and job opportunities.

Malcolm X: Make It Plain

Film. Written by Steve Fayer and Orlando Bagwell. 1994. 138 minutes.
Documentary film on the life and words of Malcolm X/ El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.

To Write in the Light of Freedom: The Newspapers of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Schools

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by William Sturkey and Jon N. Hale. 2015. 176 pages.
A collection and examination of the creative literary work of students published during 1964 Freedom Summer in Mississippi.

The FBI’s War on Black America

Film. By Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller. 1990. 47 minutes.
Documentary of people targeted by the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) in the 1960s and 70s.

Stepping into Selma: Voting Rights History and Legacy Today

Teaching Activity. Teaching for Change. 2015. 20 pages.
Introductory lesson on key people and events in the long history of the Selma freedom movement.

SNCC Digital Gateway

Digital collection. Historical materials, profiles, timeline, map, and stories on SNCC’s voting rights organizing.

The Columbus Controversy: Challenging How History Is Written

Film. Written, directed, and produced by Nick Kaufman. 1992. 23 minutes.
Contrasting views and scenes from the classroom on teaching about Columbus.

Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines

Book — Non-fiction. By Paul Fleischman. 2014. 208 pages.
A young adult primer on the environmental crisis.

A Year Without Sundays (Un Año Sin Domingos)

Book — Non-fiction. By Catherine Murphy and Carlos Torres Cairo. 2014. 132 pages (& DVD).
Photos and stories about the highly successful Cuban literacy campaign of 1961.

Counter Histories

Digital Collection. Produced by John T. Edge and the Southern Foodways Alliance; directed by Kate Medley.
Five short films that document the civil disobedience staged at segregated lunch counters in the 1950s and 60s.

The Devil Is Here in These Hills

Book — Non-fiction. By James Green. 2015. 448 pages.
History of one of the most protracted and deadly labor struggles in U.S. history that was waged in West Virginia.

Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Profile. Overview of the farm labor organization, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, with artwork by Erin Currier.

The Missouri Tigers and the Hidden History of Black College Football Activists

Article. By Dave Zirin. 2015.
The protest by the University of Missouri football team placed in the context of a long history of activism by college athletes.

Teaching Activity by Dave Zirin

The Women Who Gave Us Christmas

Article. By William Loren Katz. 2010.
The abolitionist influence on the history of Christmas celebrations in the United States.

Teaching Activity by William Loren Katz

Roudanez: History and Legacy

Digital collection. The work of Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez, founder of the first Black daily newspaper in the U.S., the New Orleans Tribune, with articles, excerpts, videos, and a timeline.

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

Film. By Stanley Nelson. 2015. 115 minutes.
Documentary on the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.

Flight from the Devil: Six Slave Narratives

Book — Non-fiction. Compiled and with an introduction by William Loren Katz. 1996. 434 pages.
Six narratives by people who were enslaved that helped expose the horrors of slavery and advance the fight for abolition.

Teaching Activity by William Loren Katz

Sylvia Woods: “You Have to Fight for Freedom”

Film clip. Voices of a People’s History.
Dramatic reading of an excerpt from an interview of Sylvia Woods (1919) by Alana Arenas.

“All the Real Indians Died Off”: And 20 Other Myths about Native Americans

Book — Non-fiction. By Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker. 2016. 224 pages.
Deconstructs persistent myths about American Indians rooted in fear and prejudice — an astute and lively primer of European-Indian relations.

Christopher Columbus and the Conquest of Paradise

Book — Non-fiction. By Kirkpatrick Sale. 2006.
An account of Christopher Columbus's life, separating the man from the legend.

Teaching Central America

Website. An online collection of lessons, book lists, biographies of noted historical figures, and readings for free use by classroom teachers.

Blood in the Water: The Attica Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy

Book — Non-fiction. By Heather Ann Thompson. 2016. 752 pages.
The hidden history of the infamous 1971 Attica Prison Uprising.

Reconstructing the South: A Role Play

Lesson. By Bill Bigelow. 17 pages.
This role play engages students in thinking about what freedpeople needed in order to achieve — and sustain — real freedom following the Civil War. It's followed by a chapter from the book Freedom's Unfinished Revolution.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy

Teaching Guide. By Facing History and Ourselves. 2015.
A collection of lessons, videos, and primary sources to teach about Reconstruction.

Challenging Ourselves: Martin Luther King, the Movement, and Its Lessons for Today

Article. By Charles E. Cobb. 2017.
Charles E. Cobb Jr. discusses the Civil Rights Movement and its lessons, and how they apply to current movements.

Teaching Activity by Charles Cobb