COINTELPRO: Teaching the FBI’s War on the Black Freedom Movement
Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. 29 pages. Rethinking Schools.
Through examining FBI documents, students learn the scope of the FBI’s COINTELPRO campaign to spy on, infiltrate, discredit, and disrupt all corners of the Black Freedom Movement.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974, Post-Civil Rights Era: 1975 - 2000
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
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Catonsville Nine Files
Archive.
Features documents, photos, and audio and video accounts about the Catonsville Nine who burned Vietnam war draft files.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: Imperialism, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
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Civil Rights Movement Veterans
Archive.
Resources on the Southern Freedom Movement compiled by those who lived it. Includes a bibliography, timelines, photos, primary source documents, and lists of speakers.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: Civil Rights Movements, Organizing
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Hidden in Plain Sight: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Radical Vision
Teaching Activity. By Craig Gordon, Urban Dreams, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project. 2003, updated in 2017.
Lesson to introduce students to the speeches and work of Dr. King beyond "I have a dream."
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: Civil Rights Movements, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
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The History All Around Us: Roosevelt High School and the 1968 Eastside Blowouts
Teaching Activity. By Brian C. Gibbs. Rethinking Schools.
A teacher uses the activist history of Theodore Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles to pose students the question: “What would you be willing to do to create change?"
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: Latinx, Racism & Racial Identity
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Kids in Birmingham 1963
Archive.
An online collection of stories from people who were children in Birmingham in 1963.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements
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Lessons in Solidarity: Grady Hospital Workers United
Teaching Activity. By Larry Miller. Rethinking Schools.
Story and discussion questions about a teacher's own experience of labor solidarity.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Labor
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Our Grandparents’ Civil Rights Era: Family Letters Bring History to Life
Teaching Activity. By Willow McCormick. Rethinking Schools.
An elementary school teacher connects the Civil Rights Movement to students’ family history by asking their grandparents to share their memories of the Movement.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: Civil Rights Movements
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Pump Up the Blowouts: Reflections on the 40th Anniversary of the Chicano/a School Blowouts
Teaching Activity. By Gilda L. Ochoa. Rethinking Schools.
Reflections on teaching students about the 1968 walkouts by Chicano students in California.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: Civil Rights Movements, Education, Latinx, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
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Rethinking What We Know About the Vietnam War
Teaching Activity. Zinn Education Project. 21 pages.
Two lessons to introduce key facts about the Vietnam War and the Pentagon Papers, documents that provide essential history that is often ignored by textbooks.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974, Post-Civil Rights Era: 1975 - 2000
Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Imperialism, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, World History/Global Studies
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Rethinking the Teaching of the Vietnam War
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools.
A role play on the history of the Vietnam War that is left out of traditional textbooks.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: Imperialism, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
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A Revolution of Values
Teaching Activity. By Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 3 pages.
Text of speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Vietnam War, followed by three teaching ideas.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Imperialism, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
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SNCC Digital Gateway
Archive.
Historical materials, profiles, timeline, map, and stories on SNCC’s voting rights organizing.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974, 21st Century
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Organizing
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School Days: Hail, Hail, Rock ‘n’ Roll!
Teaching Activity. By Rick Mitchell. Rethinking Schools.
Description of a course on the history of music in the United States.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Art & Music, Civil Rights Movements, Racism & Racial Identity
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Sharecroppers Challenge U.S. Apartheid: The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
Teaching Activity. By Julian Hipkins III, Deborah Menkart, Sara Evers, and Jenice View.
Role play on the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) that introduces students to a vital example of small “d” democracy in action. For grades 7+.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Organizing
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Stepping into Selma: Voting Rights History and Legacy Today
Teaching Activity. Teaching for Change. 2015.
Introductory lesson on key people and events in the long history of the Selma freedom movement.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Organizing, Social Class
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Teaching SNCC: The Organization at the Heart of the Civil Rights Revolution
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. 24 pages. Rethinking Schools.
A series of role plays that explore the history and evolution of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, including freedom rides and voter registration.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974, Post-Civil Rights Era: 1975 - 2000
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class, Women's History
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Teaching the Vietnam War: Beyond the Headlines
Teaching Activity. By the Zinn Education Project. 100 pages.
Eight lessons about the Vietnam War, Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon Papers, and whistleblowing.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: Media, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, World History/Global Studies
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Warriors Don’t Cry: Connecting History, Literature, and Our Lives
Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools.
Role play and writing activities for language arts and social studies on the Little Rock Nine, Brown v. Board, and schooling in general. Designed for use with the memoir Warriors Don’t Cry.
Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Language Arts, Racism & Racial Identity
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‘We Had Set Ourselves Free’: Lessons on the Civil Rights Movement
Teaching Activity. By Doug Sherman. Rethinking Schools.
The author describes how he uses biographies and film to introduce students to the role of people involved in the Civil Rights Movement beyond the familiar heroes. He emphasizes the role and experiences of young people in the Movement.
Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
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